I really enjoyed this article. It's helped me come to terms with the fact that I can play my music and share my interests with my daughter, but it is more likely than not that she will not share my tastes and passions. And that's OK. It's probably better that I give her the opportunity to share her tastes and passions with me.

That isn't to say that I've spent money on absurdly overpriced baby gear (anyone who's been around my house trips over the mostly second-hand baby gear), and I wouldn't consider taking Lily to one of these awful-sounding clubbing affairs, but I will admit that I complained (lightly, not bitterly) about the many pink outfits I received as gifts. I wanted Pop Tots dresses and for my babe to wear mini-versions of outfits I might select for myself.

But I don't hate pink. I never have. Come to think of it, I don't hate Pooh, and I don't turn my nose down on a toy with an Elmo image on it. Not to mention that decrying gifts bought with the generous dollars of my great friends and loving family is ungrateful. That's not a good example for Lily. And if I'm honest, I only protested, really, because I guess I thought other people would consider me a boring, conventional parent if I dressed my girl in lots of pink frillery and not something, well, hipper.

Parenting is work, no matter how hiply it’s dressed up. Kids don’t really fit into the kind of narrow, High Fidelity framework that we cultivated so carefully in our 20s. They fit into the most profound places in our lives, burrowing down deep where it matters, leading us toward selflessness, love, meaning. But they are not so great at processing the superficial. Kids will wear “iPooped” T-shirts, and they won’t mind, but they don’t really fit them.

My four-year-old son loves Spider-Man though he has never seen the movie, an obsession born entirely of schoolyard gossip. He doesn’t care about the KolKid retro-’50s alphabet cards I strung up in his bedroom. He wants to glue a picture of Spider-Man to his shabby chic vintage dresser. After those initial hazy months when they’re babies—essentially luggage you can dress up and place around the room—they start to sprawl. Quickly, they develop their own passions that may or may not have anything to do with their parents, or with the Andy Warhol impersonator who just wandered past my daughter.

Come to think of it, I can't wait for her to start exhibiting her passions. So far, her greatest passion is the laptop, and so far, we can share that. I do love this laptop.

Does this make you want to write back to this guy?

Guy 1:waz sup beautiful im Quinn hit me up (then his phone number which I'm kindly not printing)

Guy 2:Hello sexy how are you doing today?Im jj nice to meet you.

Guy 3 says he is shy in his profile name....and i stopped writing to him because it was so painful to get him to say ANYTHING...and today I got this very in-depth email: hi, what have you been up too? i haven't heard from you recently.

Seriously, you have to do better then this guys! Ask me questions, introduce yourselves, tell me SOMETHING about yourself, show that you have actually read my profile and SHOW so sort of interest!

Despite these losers I am talking to someone very kind right now....I'll let you know how it goes!

Apparently you can now buy t-shirts of today's snappiest headlines from CNN.com.

No really... you can.

I just saw a commercial for something called "Cash Call" where they invite you to "Borrow up to $5075 fast!" The graphic was a happy-go-looking African-American fellow on a cartoon body, just kickin' around. The announcer says, "Make sure you can afford the monthly payments!"

"Hmm," I thought. "What could those monthly payments be?"

( Check it out. )

Have any of you had any experience with a Fulbright Scholarship? Or, have any of you debated applying for a Fulbright Scholarship instead of the Peace Corps, etc. ?

Terry will be on Letterman tonight, so tune in, peeps!!

If you're reading my public entry blogs because you're interested in my crappy photog skillz, then I feel it's only right to let you know that my BRAND! NEW! MEMORY! CARD! and memory card reader was stolen during my last week of employment with Intervoice. That's what I get for leaving it there overnight. Oh well.

Although I have another memory card, I've just not gotten around to getting a new card reader, and that's why you're not seeing new daily photos.

I'm sure you're not TOO heartbroken, considering some of the photos I've posted in the past.

Love to all!!

TOTALLY fucking good soup/sandwich lunch. Pleased and full and would v much like to sleep thru the afternoon. =)

Hello all, I'm considering becoming a volunteer and am looking for any information really, but also suggestions for what I should consider before getting into this. I'm at a great place in my life right now where I have a lot of freedom and I'd really like to do something meaningful. The peace corps is obviously a huge undertaking though. Do most people really enjoy their experience? Any horror stories out there? Any information on what the experience is really like (although i'm sure it's different for everyone) would be extremely helpful. Thanks!

I don't really have the heart to re-post or catch people up on the OLPC project's current problems, but feel free to read http://radian.org/notebook/sic-transit-gloria-laptopi  for a truly disheartening inside view of what's going on.  All I can say is "told ya so."

I discovered that we have several Encore channels: Encore Love, Mystery, Western, Drama, and Action. Also, regular old Encore, which, if I recall, was something of a poor-man's HBO. Encore offers me an opportunity not unlike the OnDemand free movies; that is, catching up on really old stuff I never bothered to watch when I worked at various video stores/movie theaters, as well as watching newer stuff I couldn't justify putting on the Netflix queue. If you're curious, justification for the Netflix queue means I will watch it within 3 days, barring unforeseen circumstances. I've found you need to be vigilant on the Netflix rentals, otherwise you might look up and realize you've had She's The Man for a month.

Anyway!

So, Encore is just rife with all sorts of time-suckage opportunities. For example, right now I'm watching Face the Music, a film from 1993 with Molly Ringwald and Patrick Dempsey, where they play former songwriter ex-spouses brought together to write one last great love song IF THEY DON'T KILL EACH OTHER FIRST! I've seen it before, actually, but I hardly remember it. (I used to have a Molly Ringwald idol-worship thing.) I certainly didn't remember the ample Ringwald bosoms bursting out of each ever-more improbable animal-print outfit she dons. There's also a lot of smoking in this movie. The "great" song they write has the lyric, "If the moon should rise with the sun still high, if the story ends because this tale is broken; is there still time for promised lands? Promise to me." Yeah! And to think Bruce won with "Streets of Philadelphia" that year.

That isn't to say that Encore is always the source for such fun as this. I made the mistake of resurrecting the memory of that Christian Slater/Mary Stuart Masterson travesty that was Bed of Roses. Slater's character sees a weeping Masterson through her window at night, and he, a florist, determines to send her bajillions of flowers until she goes out with him. She inexplicably falls in love with this semi-stalker (with a low bar for falling in love), and proceeds to sabotage the relationship because her adoptive father was an asshat. They get back together for no good reason, and the best part of the movie was that it featured the voice of TV's Bobby Hill as Masterson's BFF. I never thought that movie was good, but I had no idea it was so bad. If ever a romantic movie duo had negative chemistry, it was the ill-fated pairing of Slater/Masterson.

I also watched Catch and Release, which, I don't even want to talk about. But, for every Catch and Release, there is a Mannequin.

I'm looking for writing exercises both for myself and my students. Does anyone have some favorite exercises to recommend? Ideally, they would be focused in some way, like creating attention-getting openers, using vocabulary creatively, writing descriptive details, and the like. They also need to be something that could be completed in an hour.

I haven't posted for almost two weeks. Or maybe it has been more than two weeks!

For the moment, I think I'm going to sign up for eMusic and download some songs. I like the "free" part. While I'm on the downloads subject, thanks to all y'all who recommended songs to me a few weeks back. I've managed to find free downloads of some of them around the 'net, or at least sampled them via Rhapsody or Pandora.

By the way, you can listen to my friend Peter's band, Curtains for You, for FREE on Rhapsody. Do it! You'll love the music, and as I understand it, they get some dough if you listen. EVERYBODY WINS.

For Mother's Day, my sainted husband watched Lily and scheduled me for a massage. After that, we went to the Old Country Buffet -- a favorite of mine. I really enjoy being able to put cantaloupe, fried chicken, cornbread, Jell-O, a cinnamon roll, and mac 'n cheese on the same plate. I commented that were were in contention for Parents of the Year as we gave vanilla pudding and green Jell-O to our daughter. I would have gotten her some yogurt or something, but there were precious few pureed-style options for her. For dessert, she got a bit of vanilla ice cream.

In a week, I will be 30.

Thank you both!

Received my Invitation for the Philippines on August 13. Children, Youth and Family Services program! Anyone else going?

Hi Family and Friends,

Just to let you know in case the news has travelled to you about the earthquake that hit China yesterday, A and I are fine. We're in Shanghai which is thousands of miles away from Sichuan where the earthquake started (only 300km from where I was last year though...). That being said it was a massive earthquake, 7.8, and the shock did travel all the way to Shanghai and Beijing and even to Thailand and Vietnam. There are still strong aftershocks being felt in the southwest region of China, one that registered 5.9 hit just an hour ago. People in the cities seem to be fine, no one I know has been hurt and I have been in contact with my boyfriend who's living in Chongqing and friends who are currently in Chengdu.

As can be imagined most of the casualties are happening on the outskirts of the major cities, in smaller towns and in the countryside where the buildings are not built as well and they are now cut off from rescue and relief because of damaged roads. The death toll is rising all the time, as I write this there are already 12,000 confirmed dead and the experts suspect the final numbers to be five times that. Go here for regular updates for earthquake in China. And the Chinese news networks are covering everything live and so far the government hasn't tried to reign them in (they've restricted foreign news agencies from reporting--I think because they don't trust foreign news agencies to cover news in China anymore without bias). I personally feel this is a mistake because they're preventing people outside of China from finding out about it quicker and sending aid.

People can donate money directly to Red Cross to help with the relief. If this were America, a national state of emergency would have been declared. Hopefully the US government is doing something to actively help although I have not heard anything yet. As far as I know the Crisis Corps has not been sent over. They need relief supplies airlifted into Wenchuan where the earthquake started because they are completely cut off. The Chinese government is sending rescue troops over by foot.

I feel helpless, the only thing I can think to do is make sure as many people know about it as possible so that help can be sent.

Hello, just joined the group.

I've been officially invited to the Republic of Georgia this June 2008. So maybe I'll see a few of you at staging and orientation.

Today was applying for the no-fee passport. My post office had no idea what I was talking about, and even less of an idea of what the Peace Corps was. Some helpful advice, would have been to bring the instruction sheets with me so they can read it.

I'm starting to pack up my belongings and pack for the trip. Questions for the RPCVs (especially from Eastern Europe), is it worth bringing the laptop? I'd want to bring it for music, organizing pictures, and since I'll be in the education program, for slideshows and worksheets. I'm not expecting internet. Did you bring one and regret having it? Did you not bring one and regret not having it?

I'll be out on the West Coast at the end of this month, visiting Yosemite, Sonoma Valley and San Fran -- A and I will be staying in the Harbour Court Kimpton Motel near the bay bridge (Embarcadero BART stop) in SF on Friday and Saturday (May 30th/31st)

I'd love to connect with the San Fran folks for dinner Saturday at the very least (awesome sushi??).  Any restaurant recommendations will be welcomed.

Since I spontaneously woke up at 5 this morning...

Listening to music is a rare occurrence for me. In fact, when I lived in Tokyo, I literally never listened to a single song in my free time while sitting in my own apartment. Now that I am home, music is a necessity in the car. The radio is growing gradually more irritating (if only there were a station that played classic rock without including crap like "Wasting Away in Margaritaville!") and with the boy's frequent gift of mix CDs, I find myself craving more and better music. My biggest obstacle was simply not knowing where to look. My musical taste and knowledge haven't changed since my freshman year of college. And I do still love my old favorites, like The Beatles and Pink Floyd. The thing is, they belong to a different time in my life -- a time when I was a confused, uncertain 18-year-old with a long-distance boyfriend, an internet addiction and not enough life outside of my dorm room. Listening to that music brings back the claustrophobic and insecure feelings I associate with my younger self. That's part of why I lived so long without music. Here's the other trouble: for the longest time, the idea of "music" was too intimidating -- how do I sift through thousands of songs and artists in dozens of genres to find stuff that I like? Especially when I have no clue what that is?

Anyway, today I tried out Pandora. I used Amy Winehouse as a starting point since one of her songs, "You Know I'm No Good," happened to be on someone's MySpace profile and I rather loved it (such a classy way to find music!). What I really wanted to know was whether I liked Amy Winehouse enough to download a whole album, so I hoped to listen to more of her stuff. Here's the challenge with Pandora: you tell it you like something and it won't play it for you. Their music license doesn't allow them to play music on demand, so it will play similar music for you, but not the exact thing that you said you liked. The good news is that I heard a lot of songs that I really enjoyed and many that I would consider downloading from iTunes. The bad news is that Pandora will only play them for me again if I am randomly lucky. Entering a favorite song or artist generates a "radio station" of songs with similar qualities, each of which you can rate "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to improve the quality of your recommendations. However, your thumbs up music does not become a playlist. They stay in circulation on your radio station, so just as you might hear the same song twice in an hour on the radio, you could hear them again on Pandora. There's no way for you to ask to hear those songs though -- it's the same problem with their license not allowing them to play the music on demand.

The good news is that the recommendations were great. I found a lot of stuff I liked and not all from famous, successful artists. The bad news is that I don't feel that I've made much headway in assembling a personal musical library. Don't get me wrong -- I'm happy to pay for music that I want to download and listen to. But even at $1/song, that can get expensive. I'd just like to hear a song a few times before I decide it's worth my cash and hard drive space. Other than trolling youtube or artist websites for videos of these new favorite songs, does anyone know of a way to hear a song on demand for free? The iTunes 30 second preview doesn't really cut it.

After a week in bizarro world, all things seem to be getting back to normal.

Good Things:

Melissa is back and done travelling for a little while and it'll be nice to get back into our normal routine... even though she was back for a few days between trips, she barely unpacked her suitcase. Before she left, we formulated a plan for set nights where we'd cook dinner and go to the gym a couple times... now that she's back it's time to get back on that.

My new check card -- I found two unauthorized $12 charges on my account the other day and requested a new card -- came in the mail. This means I can pay off the credit card charges I rang up all over town because I wasn't able to make it to a bank during business hours while I was cardless. I can also pay back the $20 loan my mother gave me last weekend that made me feel like I was in high school again.

I finally caught up on sleep and managed two 10 hour sleep-nights in a row.

I don't know what took me so long to figure it out, but my HS Reunion in Omaha is on Saturday July 26th, and I had planned on being in Omaha around midnight Friday night and leaving again Sunday the 27th... however, it occurred to me the other day that we get a floating holiday for our birthday at work and after researching it, I found out it can be taken anytime within the week your birthday falls... since mine happens to be July 30th, I can take that Monday the 28th off, which gives me another entire day back home... leaving on Monday night rather than Sunday... so I'll actually have time to make the rounds unlike last time.

I discovered a little band that I LOVE... "The Weepies". They're a two-piece guy/girl pop-folk band with great harmonies and laid back but catchy tunes... perfect to drive or zone out to. They sound like a band off of the Garden State soundtrack, perhaps ...irresistible. Listen = Love. How about one more?

Friday:

Another long nap after work

Frustration in the form of trying every possible to wireless combination between multiple wireless routers and the Nintendo Wii to get it connected online... no luck. The Smash Brother's patch officially "bricked" my Wii.

Went on a Bittorrent frenzy that landed me about 12 new albums and 10 new movies.

Watched the movie "Michael Clayton". Pretty good flick.

Saturday:

Slept late

Lunch with my Mom at a little deli a few miles down the road

Messed around with Twitter & Facebook.. my fantasy baseball team

Cleared out the personal care aisles of my local grocery store... it seems pretty much everything I use from facewash, mouthwash, toothpaste, deodorant, ... you name it, ran out at the same time.

Watched the movie "Robocop" in full for the first time in years. Still pretty kickass, although the special effects are dated to the extent of being laughable these days.

Sunday:

Took my mom out to lunch, we had Dim Sum at a different place than usual, Cathay House. Scrumptious. Gave her a cheesy Hallmark card that plays Mozart upon opening... which reminds me of her. She liked it.

Bought some new treats for Coco the Dog.. she approves.

Picked Melissa up from the airport

Went to the San Gennaro Feast... a bi-annual Italian carnival/food-festival. It was a nice way to close the weekend, although a bit of a rip-off. $5 a person to get in, and then overpriced food stands and carnival rides... but it was fun, Melissa and I had a blast until the 3rd of 3 rides ("The Orbiter") we went on that made us both a little bit ill...

Hurried home and immediately felt better once we both sat on the bed and things stopped moving.

She is now sleeping and I am typing... and about to start studying some more for my one and only final tomorrow, that although a bit underprepared I feel really good for... the class has been a breeze.

Weekend Grade: B+ (only because of Mother's Day... had that not happened and Robocop been the highlight of my pathetic weekend, this would have graded out to a solid C-)

Seriously this thing had a LOT of pieces to it! This is the bottom of the buffet for the kitchen...We haven't tackled the hutch that goes on top yet!





These are the before shots.....




and After!

AIDS in Africa Exhibit
I went to the most amazing and accurate AIDS exhibit last night put on by World Vision. It brought me right back to Swaziland and made my heart ache.

If it comes to your area it's really worth every minute (although, keep in mind that World Vision is a religious organization that is not only trying to raise awareness, but also money to keep their programs going).

http://www.worldvisionexperience.org/

When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Swaziland I was most impressed by World Vision because they hired local people that did good work without fancy offices with air conditioning and big SUVs. Their offices had no water or electricity and their employees rode local transportion or bicycles in some areas. The money raised for the children paid for things like school fees, uniforms and goats.

Cross posted...

AIDS in Africa Exhibit
I went to the most amazing and accurate AIDS exhibit last night put on by World Vision. It brought me right back to Swaziland and made my heart ache.

If it comes to your area it's really worth every minute (although, keep in mind that World Vision is a religious organization that is not only trying to raise awareness, but also money to keep their programs going).

http://www.worldvisionexperience.org/

When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Swaziland I was most impressed by World Vision because they hired local people that did good work without fancy offices with air conditioning and big SUVs. Their offices had no water or electricity and their employees rode local transportion or bicycles in some areas. The money raised for the children paid for things like school fees, uniforms and goats.

Cross posted...

 

ArtOMatic is this nifty artist-promotion event in DC that takes over (with permission) some huge industrial or in-progress space in DC and lets artists fill it with their work. This year it was a 10-floor monstrosity with over 1000 artists' work on display. Friday was opening night:

Cute girl interacting with a robot

What art show is complete without Peep art?  None, I say.


This has got to be the best photo ever of a camel,

chachachana , you don't even want to know what these were selling for.


"Frank Gehry's Shopping Cart" (double irony points; this was "found" art)


The title of this was "Bower Bed" and I took this photo specifically for stellarbaby     

turkmenistan invitee roll call


we are so pumped about meeting you T-17s

I just made an ice cream sundae at my house (learning how to have fun while pinching pennies) :) Yippee for me!
I will admit that it would be even more fun if I had someone to share it with.....I have noticed something thus far in my just over 2 weeks of living here....I seem to be alone a lot. Some days I do say Yippee for me...others it is more like woe is me....
Chin up...life is moving forward, and I will flow with it into new spaces, places, friends, dislikes, and loves. I will learn, grow, expand, and become even more of who I am. Gee all this thoughtfulness blooming from an ice cream sundae! I better stop or my corniness will just get worst.

I turned on the TV and suddenly a show about becoming a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader was on....I want to report that one girl weighed quite a bit more then me and WAS NOT a super tall freaky giant of a person :) I will be going for a run today when it cools down though....need to keep my weight below that of a professional cheerleader!

Oh and I have registered for the community college and will be again an edumikated college goin' student....who wuld have thunk that????
Maybe my instead of getting a Masters I should just get another Bachelors degree every 6-10 years!

(Oh now they are picking girls based on how they will look in the uniform...like they only have one size of uniform...this show is crazy)

My ultimate goal for today is to get showered/pretty/out of the house in time to get my driver's license renewed at the one DMV nearby that is open on Saturdays.

Then again, I might just sit around until 1, when I really have to get moving.

I don't want to get a new driver's license; I loved the picture on my last one.

-----

I really want my economic stimulus payment, but it's not going to arrive until next week, since my SSN ends in 90. It could be worse- my roommate didn't do direct deposit for her taxes, so hers isn't supposed to come until July. Meh. I'm not hurting for money right now or anything (yay for getting paid every week) but I'd like to use it to pay off debt ASAP.

-----

I'm kind of amazed at how spring has sprung pretty much overnight here. Last week the weathermen were threatening OMG SNOW, but now the grass is green, the lilac bushes in our backyard are blooming, and the trees are sprouting.

Also, I've moved my car exactly twice this week, because I'm biking everywhere nearby.

Spring FTW.

-----
OK, for real going to get moving now. See you later. ♥

I have decided to go to nursing school. I'm starting the pre requisites at the community college the end of this month with a 5 week chemistry/lab followed by a 5 week anatomy/physiology class in summer session two. Then i have another 3 science classes in the fall and I will be qualified and start at the U of A in a year from now. I liked the idea of going into nursing for 8 whole days...I figure if I could go into great amounts of debt buying a condo with 13 days of thought, changing my career with 8 days of thought is very thorough.
Pros of being a nurse:
1. Help people
2. Always find work (anywhere in the world)
3. Actually get paid to help people.
4. University offers accelerated 14 month program that is tuition free with 2 year work commitment afterwards.
5 I am good at going to school (or at least i was in the past)
Cons...
1. None (I'm working on my optimism here.....)

I'm nervous about the whole thing (but I think whenever you make a big decision you should be a bit nervous)..not quite sure about paying for community college and was planing on getting a job next month but that will be difficult taking 9 science credit hours in the summer. Depending on the schedule I can hopefully get something part time in the fall.

I try to follow my gut (this is how I have ended up in this condo) and my guy tends to also be the path that life seems to be leading me in. The advisor from the U of A was looking over my transcripts and said "and she walks on water too!" She was confident that after Namibia, community college and the U of A should be no problem. I need encouragement like that. My gut tells me to do something, and while I do listen I am a bit hesitant, usually till someone tells me I can do it :) Well I CAN do it and I will be fine, and somehow the money thing will all work out in the end. Life has also proven to me that things come when you need it. I'm keeping my faith in that, with my eyes wide open!

So watch out world! I'm going back to school and will be a fully employed nurse in 2010!

newest interest becoming a quasi obsession = twitter.

my user name is my real name backwards.

on a completely unrelated note, has any of you experienced or heard of someone who was 7 months pregnant and did not realize it (like, truly did not realize the pregnancy, not "merely" in denial of it)?

I may write more on this topic later. fret not, I'm not pregnant (far from it).

 Newbie here...

1. Name or Nick Name:  Jess
   
2. Education (show your school pride, list major/s and minor/s) Where are you at in the process? St. Michael's College, double major in history and secondary education (and a minor in religious studies).
   
3. Where are you going to serve/are you serving/want to serve: I have been nominated to serve as an English teacher in West Africa! (I still can't really believe that they nominated me to the region I really wanted to go to...)
   
4. When are you leaving/did you leave: The nomination form says June 2009....
   
5. What are you going to be doing/are you doing/want to do: Teaching English, I guess. I have some experience with it (I work at a adult learning center in VT that serves the Sudanese/Somali refugee populations - Burlington is a magnet for a lot of them for a variety of reasons - teaching English and GED classes).

I just got all of the medical paperwork from OMS in the mail today and it's kind of overwhelming (my dad suggested shredding it... he's coming around). I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions about it in the months to come.