But hey, check out Wombat's picture of sorta-our cat Lucy scavenging Mexican food from pool party plates:
Kthxbai!
9.10.2008
O HAI!
OMFG teh kewlest thing evar just came in the mail. I cannot tell you what it is, but it made Iz shriek and jump up and down, and she disappeared with it and now I don't know where she/it are.
But hey, check out Wombat's picture of sorta-our cat Lucy scavenging Mexican food from pool party plates:
Kthxbai!
But hey, check out Wombat's picture of sorta-our cat Lucy scavenging Mexican food from pool party plates:
Kthxbai!
9.08.2008
New Can I Sit With You? Story: Betsy
This one's for anyone who regrets not standing up for a weaker classmate.
Can I Sit With You?: Betsy
Can I Sit With You?: Betsy
Technorati Tags: Can I Sit With You, Can I Sit With You?
The Palin We Want and Need
Michael Palin for President
via Kevin Marks
And why we really, really don't want Sarah Palin:
http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/
9.07.2008
Count the Stars
Leelo took Seymour outside after nightfall. Our boy kept asking, "Lie down, Dad!" until Seymour did just that.
Then Leelo said, "Look at the stars?"
And they did. Leelo even pointed out a few, counting them as he went along.
-------
These last two months have been hard, not just for us but for almost everyone I know. Really, really hard. So I am always grateful when one of our kids reminds us why we parent, shows us the joy and wonder we wouldn't experience otherwise.
Then Leelo said, "Look at the stars?"
And they did. Leelo even pointed out a few, counting them as he went along.
-------
These last two months have been hard, not just for us but for almost everyone I know. Really, really hard. So I am always grateful when one of our kids reminds us why we parent, shows us the joy and wonder we wouldn't experience otherwise.
Technorati Tags: autism, autism blog
9.05.2008
This Is Not My Beautiful Country
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/4/95717/90720/674/586129
Daily Kos covering of the RNC arrests, riot-provoking, and general police state brutality. Courtesy of SJ.
Remember that inaction kills slowly, but completely.
Daily Kos covering of the RNC arrests, riot-provoking, and general police state brutality. Courtesy of SJ.
Remember that inaction kills slowly, but completely.
9.04.2008
Hypocrisy on a Platter
Ep sent this Jon Stewart clip to me after I spent the day snarling in disgust over hypocritical Republicans. She wrote:
"He has some good before and after clips, eg. Bill O'Reilly on teen pregnancy (the parents are "pin heads") and after (it's a personal choice). Also some good before and after Karl Rove sneering at a Democrat for being a governor for only 3 years and being a mayor of a small city before that - and now it's good enough to be vice president. And Ms. Palin herself on the topic of crying "sexist." It will make you feel better!"
9.02.2008
First Day of School!
Iz is starting fifth grade, Mali is starting her last year of preschool, and Leelo is now in second grade. I can't believe what great big children Seymour and I have.
They are happy to be off to school, and I'm happy to let them go, as it has been six weeks since the three of them have all been out of the house at the same time. Much as I adore them, I'm off to chip away at my brain and see if there's some sanity left therein...
9.01.2008
New Can I Sit With You? Story: Cookie
Friends can make all the difference when school is pure hell. I wish we could all be or have a friend like Cookie.
Technorati Tags: bully, bullying, Can I Sit With You, Can I Sit With You?, best friends
What Happens in Sebastopol
We spent yesterday in Sebastopol. During the drive home Seymour asked me whether or not I'd had a good time. He seemed surprised when I told him that I had.
It was a ninety percent lovely day, and I tend to round up, so that makes for a positive overall. We took Godfather Michael and all three kids to Hardcore Organic Coffee for Mali to panhandle apple juice off easy mom-looking marks; to the farmer's market for Iz to taste test olive oil, cheese, and Asian pears and experience general foodie awesomeness; to duck-pondy Libby park for serious Leelo-friendly active playgrounding; to Earth Kids for *sigh* one new school outfit each (for less than $100 total, that Waldorfy oasis has the best sale racks for unique kids' clothing in the region); and tied our day up at Willow Wood Market for polenta-based foodgasms and well-earned libations.
Leelo only hit me hard enough to make me cry once. I have no idea what triggered his attack. He was a patient, playful, and cheerful boy for the rest of the day.
Regardless of my general happiness with our excursion, Leelo's aggression and violence are no longer tenable, are no longer behaviors I feel we can manage, well, behaviorally. Seymour and I talked on the way home, and we both feel it's time to pursue medication for Leelo's anxiety/self-injury/unpredictable aggression and violence. Yesterday his blow "boxed" my ear and I lost hearing for five minutes. I can deal with that. But I can't stomach the possibility that he might seriously injure me, himself, or someone else. When Leelo attacked me yesterday, it was in public, in front of a group of happy coffee-goers. The shock on their faces shocked me right back. I'm used to Leelo's behavior, can mentally compensate for Leelo's behavior. But the reality is that his behavior has become dangerous and very much not okay.
I know other people have traveled the meds vs. aggression/self-injury route before. But I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has personal experience or a good information source.
I'll be calling Leelo's neurologist for a consult tomorrow morning.
It was a ninety percent lovely day, and I tend to round up, so that makes for a positive overall. We took Godfather Michael and all three kids to Hardcore Organic Coffee for Mali to panhandle apple juice off easy mom-looking marks; to the farmer's market for Iz to taste test olive oil, cheese, and Asian pears and experience general foodie awesomeness; to duck-pondy Libby park for serious Leelo-friendly active playgrounding; to Earth Kids for *sigh* one new school outfit each (for less than $100 total, that Waldorfy oasis has the best sale racks for unique kids' clothing in the region); and tied our day up at Willow Wood Market for polenta-based foodgasms and well-earned libations.
Leelo only hit me hard enough to make me cry once. I have no idea what triggered his attack. He was a patient, playful, and cheerful boy for the rest of the day.
Regardless of my general happiness with our excursion, Leelo's aggression and violence are no longer tenable, are no longer behaviors I feel we can manage, well, behaviorally. Seymour and I talked on the way home, and we both feel it's time to pursue medication for Leelo's anxiety/self-injury/unpredictable aggression and violence. Yesterday his blow "boxed" my ear and I lost hearing for five minutes. I can deal with that. But I can't stomach the possibility that he might seriously injure me, himself, or someone else. When Leelo attacked me yesterday, it was in public, in front of a group of happy coffee-goers. The shock on their faces shocked me right back. I'm used to Leelo's behavior, can mentally compensate for Leelo's behavior. But the reality is that his behavior has become dangerous and very much not okay.
I know other people have traveled the meds vs. aggression/self-injury route before. But I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has personal experience or a good information source.
I'll be calling Leelo's neurologist for a consult tomorrow morning.
Technorati Tags: aggression, autism, autism blog, medication
8.30.2008
Planned Parenthood vs. Palin
From Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund (I am on their mailing list):
Yesterday morning, on my way back from the high of the Democratic National Convention, I learned that Sen. John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential pick.
What might have been encouraging news for women was just the opposite — somehow McCain had managed to find a woman running mate even more conservative than he is on women's rights.
It was heartbreaking news, especially on the heels of such an inspiring week. Right now there is so much shameless rhetoric from the Republicans about breaking the glass ceiling, especially from McCain and his running mate. What good does it do to break a glass ceiling with a woman who wants government to control women's reproductive health? That isn't the world I want for my two daughters.
A day later, and I'm still having trouble expressing the depth of my anger about McCain's choice of a running mate. This shameless pandering to women — with a woman who doesn't trust other women to make their own decisions about childbearing — has really got me going.
My dear friends and supporters, the stakes in this election just got unbelievably higher. More than ever before, the November 4 election is the most important vote for women's rights of my generation. And our actions in the next eight weeks — yours, mine, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's — have never been more critical. Believe me, I don't say that lightly. It's time to get to work — and hard.
If you can only do one thing, it should be to tell every woman you meet that McCain and Palin are the most anti-choice, anti-women pair imaginable. Don't stop at just telling your friends. You can bet that I'll be telling strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store, the women I see at the gym, parents at my kids' schools.
Women trust other women to tell them the straight truth — and the straight truth is that McCain and Palin would take us back to a time when women had absolutely no right to decide whether or not to have a child ... zero. It's been widely reported that Palin is against abortion even in the cases of rape and incest!
And, yes, money helps us too — very much. That's how this all works. Your donations help the Planned Parenthood Action Fund reach voters person to person — conversations with one million women that tell the truth about John McCain and Sarah Palin. Bear with us over the next two months. We're going to be asking for your help, your contributions and your time a lot. Thank you in advance for doing what you can, when you can.
Times like these, it's hard not to hear my mother's voice in my head. I can tell you that my mother, the former governor of Texas and a remarkable feminist leader of her time, would have been downright outraged right now. What would have offended her most about McCain's decision to put Sarah Palin on the ticket is how utterly calculated, how awfully pandering it is to women. It is the worst kind of politics. Mom would have said, "Women voting for this ticket is just like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders."
We have the opportunity in Barack Obama and Joe Biden to elect a team that have always stood strong with us for women's health — end of story. I'm so excited coming back from Denver — but with this decision by John McCain, I recognize that everything for us is at stake.
Thank you, as always, for standing up with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the women Planned Parenthood health centers serve. We are quite a force, aren't we?
Cecile Richards, President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
------
And then there's my own state's senator, Barbara Boxer:
"The vice president is a heartbeat away from becoming president, so to choose someone with not one hour's worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.
"If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken. The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.
"Sen. McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a woman on his ticket, such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe -- they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice."
-- Sen. Barbara Boxer, attacking Sen. McCain's veep pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
via Broadsheet
Yesterday morning, on my way back from the high of the Democratic National Convention, I learned that Sen. John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential pick.
What might have been encouraging news for women was just the opposite — somehow McCain had managed to find a woman running mate even more conservative than he is on women's rights.
It was heartbreaking news, especially on the heels of such an inspiring week. Right now there is so much shameless rhetoric from the Republicans about breaking the glass ceiling, especially from McCain and his running mate. What good does it do to break a glass ceiling with a woman who wants government to control women's reproductive health? That isn't the world I want for my two daughters.
A day later, and I'm still having trouble expressing the depth of my anger about McCain's choice of a running mate. This shameless pandering to women — with a woman who doesn't trust other women to make their own decisions about childbearing — has really got me going.
My dear friends and supporters, the stakes in this election just got unbelievably higher. More than ever before, the November 4 election is the most important vote for women's rights of my generation. And our actions in the next eight weeks — yours, mine, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund's — have never been more critical. Believe me, I don't say that lightly. It's time to get to work — and hard.
If you can only do one thing, it should be to tell every woman you meet that McCain and Palin are the most anti-choice, anti-women pair imaginable. Don't stop at just telling your friends. You can bet that I'll be telling strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store, the women I see at the gym, parents at my kids' schools.
Women trust other women to tell them the straight truth — and the straight truth is that McCain and Palin would take us back to a time when women had absolutely no right to decide whether or not to have a child ... zero. It's been widely reported that Palin is against abortion even in the cases of rape and incest!
And, yes, money helps us too — very much. That's how this all works. Your donations help the Planned Parenthood Action Fund reach voters person to person — conversations with one million women that tell the truth about John McCain and Sarah Palin. Bear with us over the next two months. We're going to be asking for your help, your contributions and your time a lot. Thank you in advance for doing what you can, when you can.
Times like these, it's hard not to hear my mother's voice in my head. I can tell you that my mother, the former governor of Texas and a remarkable feminist leader of her time, would have been downright outraged right now. What would have offended her most about McCain's decision to put Sarah Palin on the ticket is how utterly calculated, how awfully pandering it is to women. It is the worst kind of politics. Mom would have said, "Women voting for this ticket is just like chickens voting for Colonel Sanders."
We have the opportunity in Barack Obama and Joe Biden to elect a team that have always stood strong with us for women's health — end of story. I'm so excited coming back from Denver — but with this decision by John McCain, I recognize that everything for us is at stake.
Thank you, as always, for standing up with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the women Planned Parenthood health centers serve. We are quite a force, aren't we?
Cecile Richards, President
Planned Parenthood Action Fund
------
And then there's my own state's senator, Barbara Boxer:
"The vice president is a heartbeat away from becoming president, so to choose someone with not one hour's worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.
"If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken. The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.
"Sen. McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a woman on his ticket, such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe -- they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice."
-- Sen. Barbara Boxer, attacking Sen. McCain's veep pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
via Broadsheet
Technorati Tags: Barbara Boxer, McCain, Palin, pro-choice, pro-life, reproductive rights
8.28.2008
Lime-tinged Lifestyles
I am not much for the website shilling. Unless one of my rather kick-ass friends has launched or written something that simply must be shared. Two friends, in this case:
My dear old friend K.A. -- "old" in that she introduced me to the person who gave me my first Silicon Valley job at Electronic Arts in 1994 -- is at the helm of a new website for and about women: LimeLife. She and her crew are in Beta, which means they want as much feedback as you're willing to give them. Have at it:
http://www.limelife.com/index.html
Michael Procopio, otherwise known as Godfather M, recently took to his KQED/Bay Area Bites pulpit about the cookbook Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World. Mr. Procopio just wants to make sure you understand the risks inherent in using Hungry Girl's recommended low-cal substitutes; some of them contain the same ingredients as sexual lubricants and hemorrhoid creams. (And not all pink-tinged vodka drinks with lime garnishes are Cosmos.)
http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/08/22/hungry-girl/
Personally, I have always avoided food substitutes. They give me the willies. They make me feel like I'm eating Floam. If I really wanted to eat more yet not gain weight, I would research the calorie loads of the foods I eat regularly to see which I'm going to have to take out of rotation, and which ones I should eat more frequently. If I wanted to lose weight for whatever reason, I would make lifestyle changes; I'd drink and eat less, and exercise more. (And I would check in with my doctor to see what realistic loss goals and healthy weights for my body type and age would be.)
Making dietary or lifestyle changes wouldn't be easy, but they would certainly be less nasty than following the recipes in that cookbook. Ewww.
My dear old friend K.A. -- "old" in that she introduced me to the person who gave me my first Silicon Valley job at Electronic Arts in 1994 -- is at the helm of a new website for and about women: LimeLife. She and her crew are in Beta, which means they want as much feedback as you're willing to give them. Have at it:
http://www.limelife.com/index.html
Michael Procopio, otherwise known as Godfather M, recently took to his KQED/Bay Area Bites pulpit about the cookbook Hungry Girl: Recipes and Survival Strategies for Guilt-Free Eating in the Real World. Mr. Procopio just wants to make sure you understand the risks inherent in using Hungry Girl's recommended low-cal substitutes; some of them contain the same ingredients as sexual lubricants and hemorrhoid creams. (And not all pink-tinged vodka drinks with lime garnishes are Cosmos.)
http://blogs.kqed.org/bayareabites/2008/08/22/hungry-girl/
Personally, I have always avoided food substitutes. They give me the willies. They make me feel like I'm eating Floam. If I really wanted to eat more yet not gain weight, I would research the calorie loads of the foods I eat regularly to see which I'm going to have to take out of rotation, and which ones I should eat more frequently. If I wanted to lose weight for whatever reason, I would make lifestyle changes; I'd drink and eat less, and exercise more. (And I would check in with my doctor to see what realistic loss goals and healthy weights for my body type and age would be.)
Making dietary or lifestyle changes wouldn't be easy, but they would certainly be less nasty than following the recipes in that cookbook. Ewww.
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