CNN Riding the Fool Train

When A women is photographed breastfeeding, and if she is famous and cool with that, if she isn't famous and posted it herself, and she is cool with that... it is not a debate. It is a statement. A pretty clear statement. Not a debate. There is no need to debate anything. It is one persons statement, end of discussion. Why do all these "mom" moments and the "debate" that ensues continually picked up by CNN. Women breastfeed all the freaking time without taking a picture... No debate there either... just living.

It isn'talways photographed, but it happens everyday all the time.  If a mom can breastfeed while she works, more power to the rest of us. When women let themselves be put out there is these ways they unfortunately expect all the media overreaction.  But where is the shaming a judgement when hollywood spends decated comidically depicting birth as out of control, emergent and heavily assisted... 

Oh that's right women should be seen (the way other people want us to be seen) and not heard (at least not by our own choosing) except through publicly approved filters.  So who is this "public" of filters?  Who drank the Kool-Aid?  Land of the Free?  Really?

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2013/12/11/nr-gisele-bundchen-breastfeeding-instagram.cnn&hpt=hp_c3&from_homepage=yes&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Getting Healthy

Sometime over the early Summer I began to feel not just over weight but very unhealthy.   My stress level was very high, my hormones and moods were totally out of whack and I was very unhappy.  Emotional eating has always been a way to cope and through the year I'd always managed to manage it, some how.  But that all seemed to have changed.  I had to confess that loosing all the extra breast was a great step forward, a huge step forward but that wasn't going to fix my health.  (The first Picture is me in June and the second is me in April.)

Ever since the surgery I have experienced a lot of health problems I just didn't have before, or at least not all at once. I caught pneumonia, and digestive problems, ear aches, massive throat infections, reactions to the stitches, UTI, low energy and I was always cold. I constantly wore a sweater for about 8 months. My most recent health issue has been a massive Sty which spread to the tissues surrounding the eye and required being lanced by an ophthalmologist.

I started to get scared.  So In an effort to have a hobby together, and in a effort to live a more disease free lifestyle... to live healthier longer Mark and I embarked on a 5:2 fast lifestyle change.  We eat "whatever we want" five days a week and only 500 calories on two days of the week.

 We have discovered our food cravings, our will power and our weaknesses.  We both have learned to appreciate the caloric values of many foods.  I have personally increase some of my yoga exercises too.  I believe I am on my way to better health, I can feel it.  I weighed myself early on and was so discouraged to have only lost 3-4 pounds that I have decided to not use a scale.  I have lost 4 pants sizes and I can do 15 push-ups.  Things are looking up. 

Fox News

My response to a huge debate opened up by a friend voicing his frustration with the lack of quality news from FOX NEWS.  I know my opinion will hurt a few feelings. I'm just sharing my observations and opinions.

This education issue is big to me, Here in SC, a lot A LOT of people teach creation. If you are brainwashed by your church and family to disregard the huge body of knowledge that is science you will be forever ignorant to so many things. I see it all around me here. But If I posted this I wouldn't be just offending "friends" I have family that think this way. It drives me crazy. Evolution in education is key... because otherwise we are teaching that ignoring our body of knowledge, what ever it may be, is ok. As adults these same brainwashed kids will ignore climate change and poverty and elitism ... and they will grow up thinking that narrow opinion is fact... because someone in authority said so... ie a news media outlet like FOX. I rest my case. Cause and effect.

Furlough

I totally understand peoples anger over the closings of parks and landmarks. But look at it this way, the country is being reminded that the wild areas and monuments wouldn't be here for you to enjoy if there was no Park Service, no Department of Forestry. What if we hadn't preserved all this land in the first place. Just try to remember that when someone starts soap boxing about money wasted of National Parks budgets. These places are managed by a lot of under appreciated individuals, Federal employees at the bottom of the federal pay scale. They are furloughed too.

(first written on my facebook feed October 6th)

Flippant

flip·pant

ˈflipənt/

adjective

1. 1.

   not showing a serious or respectful attitude.

   "a flippant remark"

   synonyms:

   frivolous, facetious, tongue-in-cheek;  disrespectful, irreverent, cheeky,impudent, impertinent;  informalflip, waggish "a flippant remark"

A Shitty Way to Share Retirement Home Research.

Creekside/ Capriet	100 Burgess Hill Way Frederick , MD 21702	creekside@capreit.com
		(301)698-5700
Edenton Retirement Community	5800 Genesis Lane
	Frederick, MD 21703	866) 344-4946
		http://www.springridgesenior.com/Amenities/32425
Spring Ridge Senior Apartments	6351 Spring Ridge Parkway	(877) 508-8394
Sunrise of Frederick	990 Waterford Drive
	Frederick, MD 21702	(866) 344-4946

I'm Not Stretching Here

Really really, the more ya look at the portrait in the previous post the more you'll see it.

Here is exhibit A (About 10 years after the portrait looked exactly like me.)

Exhibit B see bottom Right Photo

A Twin

When I was about 19 I house sat for someone who had a coffee table book full of old oil paintings of Redheads.  One of the pictures just bowled me over.  I ran to the bathroom and did a double take in the mirror.

 I wrote down everything I could find in the book describing the painting. About a year later I lost the scrap of paper. I have been chanting in my head ever since I saw this painting, "Boston Museum of Art, Viola Nilson, Pink Flower".  I forgot the rest of the details.  Thanks to the internet I don't have to make a trip to Boston. After years of occasionally running internet searches I have finally found the portrait on line.

She looks Just like me... I think maybe at least she used to.  She has green eyes. Now I am "withered" with time. Certainly not a young woman anymore. When I was house sitting that Summer I found my twin in Viola Nilson.

See for yourself, The Pink Flower (Viola Nilson) by Laura Combs Hills

Finding New Music through Facebook.

I love finding new music through Acquaintances and Friends on Facebook.  It is how I found The Avette Brothers. And How I found this They Might Be Giants song my Kid love. Of Course there is Clouds by Zak Sobiech

And now this

Daft Punk (feat. Julian Casablancas) - Instant Crush [Random Access Memories]

Stop Proposed bill H3478

My letter to SC representative

 David J. Mack, III

"Option 3, Non-mandatory testing is allowing myself and so many other who are dedicated to bright engaged citizen creation to provide a rich and thorough classical education to our children, our and your most valuable resources.

We need our freedoms to provide society a rich diversity of educated peoples to help stabilize our future world.  Teaching to the test will only create a huge time suck and a barrier to the reality - life is not a test, it require inventive innovative, creative, outside the box thinking.

Where is that thinking future going to come from?"

Maybe it sounds arrogant?  Maybe it has run on sentences... I don't know if I would change a word of it. I just spent the last 4 days battling Norovirus in all it's 20-min-between-spells glory and Rushing a child to the ED for a head injury/fall.

Rumor has it the bill has already failed in committee, but I wanted my 2 cents out there.  I want to participate and be a voice.  Maybe our democracy is terribly flawed, even broken... but in our times of internet access at the ready isn't is beautiful that I can Hear about an issue, Find my representative and Write a passionate letter and Participate all in 15 minutes.

Maybe I'm farting in the wind, but somebody is bound to smell it.  I love the smell of democracy at 11 in the evening.