McCain's VP choice

How stupid do they think women are?

What burns me the most is her line in the speech:

"It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

Seriously? "...we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all"???

A beauty queen picked by a man for a #2 job . . . "Oh, watch out for all that falling glass!"

Maybe it would help (a teensy bit) if Palin supported equal pay, endorsed a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices, and wanted to expand access to children’s health care.

I guess it just makes me incredibly angry that "any woman" is seen as a viable substitute for Hillary Clinton. Of course, don't we all realize that women are the same and interchangeable!

I suppose it doesn't matter if McCain himself voted against equal pay for women back in April this year: http://vesperstar.blogspot.com/2008/04/tough-luck-ladies.html

Maybe he's looking forward to cutting down on the budget by paying this possible VP less than previous holders of the office.

Are you going to San Francisco?

Yes! And I can't wait to meet the gentle people there.


San Francisco, March 11-14, 2009

I seem to be experiencing delayed-happiness since finding out last Thursday. Maybe it just sunk in that I'm presenting at my first national conference. I am really happy. Most of all, I'm joyful Catherine and I will both be there. It's NO fun going to a conference alone.

J.D. is even planning to make the trip. It would be great to turn it into a mini-vacation. Now I just have to figure out how to wrangle some money out of the department. I know we're allotted financial help with three conferences. This is definitely one for which I'm calling in my chips.

What session are you in Catherine? I'm in the following:

Session: E/16 4:45 to 6:00.
Session Title: Peer Review in Three Settings.
Presentation Title: "Measuring the Wavelengths between Silence and Learning: The Influence of Gender and Institutional Policies on Graduate Instructor End Comments."
Role: Speaker 3.

Before I officially respond to the invitation I would like a little help with my title though. Rereading it now, it seems extra wordy. I want to be detailed, but I recognize the value of conciseness too. Please leave your ideas for the title.

I would very much appreciate any help.

Now to get some flowers for my hair. . . .

Area Woman Will See Any Movie That Takes Place Between 1743 And 1919

August 20, 2008 Issue 44•34

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, NJ—-Veterinary assistant Lauren Millardi, 27, will watch any period film set within a strict historical time frame of 1743 and 1919, sources reported Monday. "If there's a Gilded Age plantation house or a tilbury horse-drawn carriage in the trailer, you can be sure Lauren will be in the theater opening weekend," said Millardi's boyfriend, Tim Vernacini. "There's just something about the span of years between the War of Austrian Succession and the end of the Spanish influenza epidemic that sweeps her right off her feet." Although he has dutifully viewed more than a dozen films set in the Victorian era in the past year alone, Vernacini said his girlfriend has yet to watch any of his favorite films, with the exception of the 12 minutes of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure that feature Napoleon Bonaparte.

No reason

Sunday we lazed around the apartment pretty much all day watching episodes of Dexter, season 2. Toward the end of the series, Dexter decides to cook some steak. So, inspired by a serial killer, we impulsively went out to dinner. We ended up going to Morton's Steakhouse in Clayton -- it was closest. It's a nice place. The woman asked us if we were out to dinner for any particular reason; we just said "no." It was easier than explaining a serial killer inspired us to eat steak. She said, "I'll take your picture anyway." So, now we can always cherish our 8/24/08 steak-run to Morton's. It even struck me at the time as linguistically appropriate that the place was called "Mor"ton's. Although, I'm sure most normal people don't think about Latin roots and such morbid things.

Anyway, while there we enjoyed nearly the whole place to ourselves. The warm bread and flavored butter were fantastic. But I wasn't such a fan of seeing the lobster you could order crawling around on a silver platter. Poor guy. I am a carnivore, but I wish I wasn't. Anyway, after seeing him, there was no way I was going to order him.

To drink, I did try a Bailey's and coffee with cinnamon sprinkled on the glass. After the waitress was gone, J.D. leaned over and asked me, "Was it the cinnamon that did it?" I smiled and thought, it's wonderful to be known so well by someone. "Yes, it was exactly the cinnamon that did it."

Overall, it was a fun, impulsive way to spend our evening. Who knows what we'll be inspired by next. Maybe we should just stop watching t.v.

Olympic yams

Sometimes you just have to talk back to the television.

Last night we watched a bit of the Olympics. We turned it on just in time to hear Bob Costas providing background information about Usain Bolt, the Jamaican winner and new world record holder of both the 100 and 200-meter races. Evidently, Bolt's father thinks his son's incredible speed comes from eating special yams grown in the Trelawny region of their country.

Costas added: "Those yams, and some long-striding gams."

Tammy: [groan].

J.D.: "I just lost so much respect for you."

Going for the Gold

All Contraception defined as Abortion:
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2008/07/15/hhs-moves-define-contraception-abortion

Is it just me, or is this truly scary? I can't believe that such extremes are seen as even plausible in 2008. The control this would assert over women's lives and bodies would be devastating. Also, this shows tremendous ignorance about the health issues and concerns of women with conditions like Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which necessitates taking birth control to avoid all sorts of serious health problems.

My other calling

Perhaps I missed out on a life as a chemical engineer, and I haven't decided to pursue writing erotica (not that I ever considered it either). See comments in "Wikipedia for President" post if you're confused, or if you care.

But, my other calling seems to be making fun of politicians. Here's the caption I submitted for this picture of Pres. Bush at the Bejing Olympics, posted by Comedy Central's website.





Chinese officials deny reports of secretly completing the lobotomy.

http://blog.indecision2008.com/tag/george-w-bush/ The winner was really funny. But I'm happy with second place. :)

How many Thai restaurants are on your block?

We have FOUR. Why we need four, I have no idea.

Thai Cafe Upscale Thai restaurant.
6170 Delmar

Thai Country Cafe Old-fashioned Thai country food.
6221 Delmar

Thai Gai Yang Cafe Thai food, specializing in roasted chicken.
6250 Delmar

Thai Pizza Company Thai pizza, noodles & rice.
608 Eastgate (intersects with Delmar)

Ok, so they're not all on the same block, but come on, seriously, why do you need four very similar restaurants (owned by the same family may I say) within a very close walking distance of each other? Does Mom cook at one, Dad cook at another, and the kids each have their own? Was it a family contest or something?

We actually ate at Thai Pizza tonight. So, I guess I shouldn't complain. It was ok. Still, having them next door to each other boggles my mind. Then again, I'm from a town where there weren't any Thai restaurants, so maybe I'm just sensitive.

My Neighbor Bigfoot

You may have heard recently that Bigfoot was discovered dead by two Georgians.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/us/15bigfoot.html?em
The New York Times online published a picture of the body found by these intrepid explorers. You can click on the link to see for yourself. But I thought it would be worthwhile to share, what I took as, the highlight of the article:

“There’s a lot of comment being made that it looks fake, or it looks like a suit,” Mr. Dyer said. “But these people wasn’t there when I was sweating, pulling this thing through the woods.”

No they wasn't. However, I think we can debunk this rhetorician's elaborate logic by the evidence I have. I'm happy ( I guess) to report that Bigfoot is not deceased. Bigfoot is alive and well, currently living above me.

I woke up this morning to the sound of stomping and screeching. We've lived here a long time now and have had quite a few stampies and stompies over the years. We've even had two babies born to different couples living above us. We also had the purple-pink-and-green-haired lady who broke her window with a can of Spaghetti-Os. She evidently got frustrated trying to open the can and threw both the can and can opener out her second-floor kitchen window, shattering glass everywhere. But back to my point, in all that, we've NEVER had such upstairs thundering. They make the entire apartment shake and the windows rattle. They RUN pounding on the floor at 2:30 a.m. This morning I really did wake up to the sound of stomping and yelling. And who are these big footed creatures. . . would you believe a pair of (at the most) 120 lb. Korean girls?

I didn't think so. That's why I decided Bigfoot was just more believable.

A Walk

First of all, Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you had an enjoyable day. Love You.

J.D. and I walked to his new place of employment today. It was 2.5 miles, one way. It took longer than the 30 minutes we initially planned because all the Clayton residential streets twist and turn and often dead end. But we had a lovely time walking all the same. The weather here is weird for August. When we moved here 7 years ago, it was humid and hot as hell. We pretty much thought about loading everything right back in the van and turning around to go home. But we didn't. This summer there have only been a few days when the temperature went near or over 100. Today it was probably in the high 80s.

As we walk, J.D. and I like to analyze what we like and dislike about each house. We both like brick houses. We're not fond of funky looking colors or designs. We like classic, simple designs with well-kept yards. Today we commented a lot on the immensity of the homes around here. I honestly can't imagine that kind of money. We don't want a Mansion or McMansion, just a nice house someday. We really don't want a McMansion. They annoy us. We want someplace with unique character and not the homogeneous collective or tiny patch of land found with McMansions.

After walking by Clayton's well-to-do housing, we went into the business downtown area. We went into Straub's for the first time, just to look around. As a general rule, you know you're in a fancy-schmancy grocery store when you walk in and see a spiral staircase. J.D. teased me when I was looking at some different types of pastas in the corner: "Tammy come over here, you're on the low-class side of the aisle." I don't know what would possess anyone to pay $6.00 for a handful of grapes... but I guess if you've got money to burn.

After shopping and not buying anything, we wandered over to a place for lunch called "Oceano." The seafood was good and not too expensive, surprisingly.

We strolled home, left-overs in tow.

Wikipedia for President

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/08/did-mccain-plagarize-his-speec.html

I'm not a fan of plagiarism in any circumstance. This article shows similarities between McCain's speech on Georgia and Wikipedia. Is Wikipedia really the best we can do? Seriously.

Work News

Just briefly, to any family or friends that may not know. This week J.D. got a new job! Yay! He will now be a "Contact Center Operations Analyst." He's excited about it and will start in about 2 weeks. He gave notice to his current job on the 6th.

I'm happy because this change is really good for us. J.D. will be doing a job that fits better with his education. It also means he'll work normal hours; he will be home before 11:30 at night! And we'll have the same weekends! And hopefully when he leaves in the mornings, it will help me get an early start on my work as well. We may even be able to visit family on holidays now too!

Naked Bicycle Ride

Some days odd things happen. Yesterday, the "World Naked Bike Ride" came to town. So what did we do? Did we strip down to promote a positive and realistic understanding of the human body while peddling in protest against gas emissions? Heck no. We jumped in our Focus and went to take video! Admittedly, this one was all me, not J.D. But if you watch the video, you'll hear him giggling along now and then. There's just something inherently funny about seeing someone ride a bike buck naked. The video doesn't really show anything too detailed, just some general levity and an interesting way to pass a Saturday night.

p.s. Most people were not naked. The theme was "as bare as you dare." However, a few souls were truly daring.

The Wages of Love

A recent scrapbook page. It's a picture I took 9 years ago at the Vatican. The words came from Galway Kinnell's poem "Little Sleep's-Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight." My shortened, ambiguous version of his line "the wages / of dying is love."