BBC Squee!

Okay, I am officially as happy as a clam. I just figured out (idiot) that I can download the first three Doctor Who seasons, Torchwood and Robin Hood on iTunes. Let's see, $26 as opposed to the dvd price of $80? Yes! I can finally watch Torchwood.

Down, girl, remember Dragon*Con. So, now I get to choose between the three. I can let myself have one of the seasons. I have a feeling it'll be Torchwood.

After that I'll download Dr. Horrible.

I love iTunes.

Colorado "Personhood" Amendment

As much as I would love to be back in Colorado right now, getting my degree, something is happening there that makes me just want to pull a "Hulk Smash!" I wonder how much of this Tancredo pushed for?

In November, Coloradans will vote on an amendment to the state constitution granting "personhood" to "any human being from the moment of fertilization." The ultimate goal being to stop any and all abortions and overturn Roe v. Wade.

Some of my problems with this proposal:
1. A zygote or embryo cannot live outside the womb. Until the third trimester a fetus cannot live outside the womb. Yes, there have been very rare cases of a twenty-week fetus surviving but as I said, they are very rare and most doctors and medical professionals consider the third trimester to be the viable stage. Even early third trimester, premature births need a lot of TLC to make it with reasonable health. My personal opinion is that until viability is reached, said fetus is not a person. Sorry to sound harsh.
2. If a miscarriage (medical term: spontaneous abortion) happens and some yahoo says the pregnant woman did something to cause it like drink or smoke, this could open her up for criminal negligence charges. Please, if she intended to keep the baby and deliver it, she'll already be torn up by the loss. Charging her afterward is like twisting the knife and pouring salt in the wound at the same time. Women are already being charged under child abuse laws if they drink alcohol or do drugs while pregnant, even if nothing bad happens to the child.
3. If there is a medically necessary procedure that will harm the fetus to save the mother, whose rights are paramount?
4. The old stand-by of rape and incest. What do you do? Using the much-to-often-repeated standard "It's not the child's fault" doesn't negate the irreparable harm a pregnancy carried to term could do to the real victim of such crimes, the woman. Again, until viability, not a child. Would this give the rapist a chance to say he demanded the "child" be born, thus compounding and extending his rape for at least nine months. What a power trip. This amendment would hand him the perfect weapon over his victim - one he could wield continuously for at least nine months. Maybe more. As if having to face him in trial isn't bad enough.
5. Who the hell gave some state or government the right to tell me what to do with my own body? Not me. My body, my choice. Stay the hell out of my uterus.
6. I also object to it because it can ultimately be used to halt vital stem cell research into diseases like Parkinson's and spinal cord injuries (to name the most famous). Now, I do think that if using adult stem cells could yield positive results, we should study that, as well. Whatever works the best.
7. What would happen in the case of in vitro fertilized eggs that haven't been implanted and are slated to be destroyed? Do they automatically have to be implanted and given a chance to develop into infants? Who has to carry or pay for them? Honestly, frozen eggs are enough of a pitfall, shall we add more to an already dodgy subject?
8. Do we really want to return (as if we've really left) to the back-alley, coat hanger abortion days? This would simply serve to drive women with no other option to it. Septicemia, bleeding out, permanent injury? Yeah, we really look forward to this type of thing again.

Dianne N. Irving says some interesting things about the proposed amendment, actually. Worth a read.
Also, read this .pdf by JAMA bout fetal pain.

*sigh* There is so much more that's wrong with this asinine attempt to control women's bodies and minds.

*Fume*

A few days ago I posted the link to the Live Long and Marry auction site. I had been trying to figure out if I had time or money to do something for it and had pretty much decided "No". Well, yesterday I was mentioning it to Mom and she had a very annoying reaction to it. I had been thinking of making a GF care basket. Her comment was not to do one for that but for a "good cause" like for children. Well, this got my back up, so I've decided I will MAKE the time somehow to do it. Hey, I'll have my normal bus rides, the plane to and from Atlanta...

I'm going to be offering a set of stitched cards. Here's the link: 8 Cross-stitched cards

Luna Lovegood!

Okay, I just have to pass on this picture of Luna Lovegood from Half-BloodPrince. I found it on The Leaky Cauldron site. I want those specs!

There are a lot of other pictures from the new movie. Check them out.

Not a Grandma day...

Grandma's sugar will not remain stable today. It's bottomed out at least twice. She's currently eating a tomato sandwich that she argued about with Mom. She says the tomatoes are choking her. She argued with Mom about drinking some juice and actually fought with her about the sandwich, saying it was poison.

Today is not a good day for her.

Lincoln ran away!

Well, Scranton has made the news again, this time with a mystery. AOL and other news services are passing on the story of our missing Lincoln monument. It was dedicated with much fanfare in 1909, was still present for part of the 20's and then just disappears. The current theory is that when Lake Lincoln was expanded, it was removed and the bust was either sold or put in storage somewhere.

Maybe with the increased coverage we'll find out what happened to it.

Live Long and Marry

Here's a link to a livejournal community that one of my favorite authors, Tamora Pierce, is offering some goodies for auction in. It's called Live Long and Marry. The community/fundraiser is for groups fighting the marriage amendment in California. Here is info from the site:

"What is this? Live Long And Marry is a fandom auction to benefit marriage equality. Bidding begins on July 1, 12:01 AM one minute after midnight Pacific Time, 2008, and closes on July 15, 12:01 AM one minute after midnight Pacific Time, 2008. Please do not bid until bidding opens.

What's the cause? The auction will raise money for the fight against the California initiative which will legally destroy existing same-sex marriages and ban any further ones. If the initiative passes, it will write discrimination into the state constitution, annull existing marriages, and make Mr. Sulu cry.

How can I help? You can bid on fanfic, original fic, vids, cookies, memorabilia, critique/betas, and much more! Or you can offer your skills and services as a writer, vidder, baker, knitter, or whatever else you'd like."

Obviously, the originator of the community is a Star Trek fan. As most Trekkies know, George Takei, our beloved Sulu, has finally been given the chance to marry the love of his life, Brad Altman. It constantly amazes me that people see no problem in denying other human beings basic rights. Let's fight this amendment in whatever state tries it but first, in California.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what I can stitch to offer for an auction.

R.I.P. Don S. Davis

About six or seven years ago, I finally got into Stargate. One of my favorite characters is always going to be General Hammond. He was just stern enough to call SG1 (usually O'Neill) on the carpet and just mischievous enough to let SG1 get away with what they did.

I'm going to miss Don S. Davis. He died on June 29th of a massive heart attack. He will be missed.

Grandma is going down to TAFH's today. Thank the gods. She's been okay lately, but the idiot aunt of mine made sure she told Grandma before she left two weeks ago that she was coming down. So, Grandma's been asking every day, multiple times when we were leaving. ARGHH!! We had all agreed that Grandma wouldn't be told if she was going down, that it would be a surprise. So, of course my aunt the PhD can't remember this. *sigh*

I was going to go down with them, but when I got to work today and tried to clock in I realized I was four hours early. I'm going to get home after Mom and Grandma leave. Yeah, Mom's thrilled. I just hope it stops raining before I have to leave, because I'm going to be walking home.

I'm off tomorrow and closing Saturday. So, I'll be able to enjoy some of the block party and do mondo research at the library.

Now, if the caregiver could just get here, I may not be late after being four hours early. She's already half an hour late and was woken up by Mom's call fifteen minutes ago. She was supposed to be here at 6:30. I just hope she doesn't do the whole shower and major grooming thing. Just throw some clothes on and get here. I only have 25 minutes to catch the bus.

Highs!

Okay, these have been a good couple of days. Granted, Grandma is a bit pissy that she had to leave TAFH, but it's dealable. Of course, there is also the annoying fact that my oldest brother saw me both Saturday and Sunday and still didn't wish me Happy Birthday. *sigh* I guess I really didn't expect more.

The reasons these have been a good couple of days are:
1. Went out on Thursday night and saw Indiana Jones (loved it) then stayed out really late. We went to Poor Richards for karaoke night. I did not sing, having no desire to witness anyone's ears start bleeding.
2. Went out Saturday and watched Iron man for the third time. We saw the shield and analyzed possibilities for the next Marvel movies. I also managed to mail dad's father's Day card before I got my birthday card! Oh, and I bought Kingdom Come at Comics on the Green.
3. Today I got a birthday card from my little brother! I also got one from my dad, but to be honest I'm totally psyched about the card from L'il Bro.
4. Also, Grandma's starting to become a little more human. One day. This is a record. I just wish she'd stop closing the darned doors. We need the breeze in here.

I'm watching TLC for some reason. The show I'm watching just featured my company. Thank the Gods, the aisles were neat.

Robins Away!

The robins are all gone. The last one flew away two days ago. It took her a bit to get started and she sort of flapped around the porch floor for a bit with Mama watching her. However, she finally flew from the edge of the porch to the hedge across the street. Mom and Grandma want to block off the ledges so birds can't nest there again. I figure we should let them nest. We can repaint the porch, after all. I'm outnumbered, though, so I imagine we'll be blocking it off soon. :(

Coffee Crazy!

Okay, let me get this straight. Dunkin' Donuts has pulled a Rachel Ray ad because Michelle Malkin and her crowd decided that the paisley scarf she was wearing for the shoot was really a keffiyeh and, as such, is wrong to put on television post 9-11. Give me a break. I would say that, for this sheer stupidity, Dunkin' Donuts has lost my custom, but I never went there anyway. Yeesh!

Birds Away!

I took some pictures of the robin chicks on my porch and boy, was Mama pissed! She even tried dive bombing me to get me to go away. Here they are, Mama and chicks (Isn't the speckling incredible?!):

Vain, Dead Relatives

Man, talk about vanity. I do the family genealogy. It's a lot of fun, even the various roadblocks some of my more idiotic ancestors toss in my way. Take this one, for example. One of the branches consisted of one large group of sisters living together in the 1930 Census, after both parents had died. They were all adults. Now, I had already gotten the 1900 and 1910 Censuses and used those dates for their birthdates. After finding the 1930 Census, I noticed there was something really off. Every single one of the females had knocked at least five years off their ages. One knocked off a whopping eight years of hers and her husband's ages. Argh! If I hadn't had the 1900 Census with all of them listed and using my keen powers of deduction (How could their parents plan to perfection what children they'd have and what genders in the next decade?) I'd have been just the teeniest bit confused. As it is, I'm just annoyed.

The only possible explanation other than vanity is if the census-taker asked a neighbor. I find myself hoping it was that, actually. Not that it matters.

May I scream now, please?

The last couple of days have been really good; Grandma Days. Then there's today. She made it upstairs while I was watching national Treasure 2 and has now realized Mom has moved into "her" room. She's not happy. I went downstairs about fifteen minutes ago to make dinner and found her eating about 1/4 of the 8-inch, gluten-free cherry pie that we bought on Sunday that still has to be cooked!!!!! This is, of course, all she wants for dinner. I raised my voice and used the f-word, so she's pissed as hell at me. Well, I'm pissed at her. I already warned Mom she's angry about the room switch. Mom is so fed up with this bullshit that she's ready to tell grandma to go to Hell and we'll move out. I think she really does mean it this time. I know I am. I want to get away from this existence so badly I can taste it. My coworkers and friends have no idea how I've lasted this long. I think I must be a masochist. That's the only explanation.

On a good note, Kim's coming over so we can reserve our hotel and flight for Dragon*Con. I hope the wireless extends to the porch, because I don't feel like being stared at by a bitchy demented old bat.

Mom's home

Mom came home Tuesday. The diagnosis has ranged from a TIA to a migraine to the earliest stages of MS. She has a bunch of other tests to go through and we'll see.

Happy Mother's Day

This has not been a good day, well, weekend. TAFH came in Friday night. Cool beans, right? I had to work and had a pretty good time, actually. Then, Saturday morning Mom and I took off for breakfast downtown. We had a nice meal. She left to work a bake sale and I went to the library to research. While there the author of I Heard You Paint Houses gave a talk on his book and the various mob connections in the area. After that I went to see Iron Man again. Sounds pretty good, right? It was. Friday night and Saturday morning were the best part of my weekend.

Right after the bus pulled out of downtown to go to the mall so I could get to work, I got a phone call. Mom was being driven to Mercy Hospital from Honesdale because her leg wasn't working right. I just stayed on the bus and rode it right back to where I'd gotten on, making a number of phone calls the whole trip. It's a damn good thing I finally put minutes on the silly cell phone Friday night! I had been down to 10 cents. My brother and I stayed at the hospital until it was clear she was being admitted. They ran the usual gamut of tests minus the MRI. That is scheduled for tomorrow. It turns out the neurologists believe she has complex migraines. She has a history of migraines, so this really isn't too much of a shocker. We found this out this morning.

Mom's Mother's Day hospital stay isn't really the bad part and as I'm typing this I'm calming down even more because the whole weekend could have been so much worse. The problem stems from TAFH's OCD anal-retentive fucking attitude. Obviously, I had a disagreement (to be polite) with the woman today.

It was all about the house. She insists on cleaning, or re-cleaning, the house every time she comes in because we don't do things to her exacting standards. She calls it "a pig-sty." I am "lazy" because I don't clean it from top to bottom, just the way she likes it, every day. I will freely admit I don't clean as much as I could or even should. I refuse to run the vaccuum and do the dishes only when I absolutely have no other choice. I'll do anything else, though. The house may not always be immaculate, but it's always at least neat.

Now, in her defense (sort of, since she was only using it as an excuse for her normal behavior), she kept insisting that the cleaning we had to do was all for Mom's benefit, because Mom shouldn't have to come home to it. Well, after an hour of being pecked at I decided to leave the house. Without doing what she wanted me to do. I did some of it, gathered my things and told Grandma I was going for a walk. She followed me out the door and tried to tell me off. I am proud of the fact that her face is all still in one piece. If I could have, she'd be sharing Mom's room due to extreme bodily trauma and I'd be sitting in jail right now, happy as a clam for finally tearing her smug, superior face and attitude to shreds.

My only regret right now is that I broke down and told Mom what happened. Mom's in the hospital with migraines brought on by stress and work and I had to add to it. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I'm sorry. My brother, who was told by TAFH what happened, asked me not to say anything a bit too late. He was surprisingly restrained in what he said to me. Other than telling me I have no common sense, as usual, the ass, he told me I had to control my emotions. I told him I control them a heck of a lot more than he thinks I do. I need to use better judgement, though in when to control them according to him. Usually he just comes solidly down on TAFH's side, so as annoying as his "advice" was I was proud of him for not just jumping on me totally.

I told Mom as I was walking to the crick. There's a spot there that I can sit and relax. Today I cried a bit with Mom on the phone and then by myself. Then a wind came up as I was sitting there with my eyes closed. It dried my tears and kept going until I felt some of the pain lift away. Between it and the sound of the water, I was able to calm down. I'm still upset. I will be for a while, but not nearly so much as I was. I may not be the most devout Pagan, but every once in a while They make Their presence known and I'm grateful for it.

I wrote a lot more than this while I was sitting at the hospital with Mom and my brother. I'm much calmer now, though and don't need it all written out.

TAFH is giving me the silent treatment and she and Grandma have gone to visit Mom. I warned Mom and told her to be nice. She said it'll be difficult, but the pain and drugs will mask any distant behavior, I think. She's more upset with TAFH than me. I just have to get through a few more hours and TAFH will be gone and all will be back to normal. Well, as normal as this household gets. I imagine Grandma will have words for me.

Iron Man

Okay, I just have to say that Iron Man rocks! I loved this movie. I really want to go see it again. I don't say that often.

I won't give anything away, but you simply must stay after the credits. If you don't, you'll miss something great.

Feminism

One of my favorite authors is a proud and unabashed feminist. She doesn't just admit this fact, she glories in it. She has blogged about why she calls herself a feminist at least twice in the time I've read her blog. Each post has been beautifully eloquent. My only problem is that I fail to see why she must explain herself. Why aren't we past the attitude that feminism is bad?



Here's my take on feminism. It's one of the many, interconnected ways we of the greater society will achieve equality for all people, not just women. My idea of equality is that each person will bear the same rights and responsibilities under the law and in society's eyes. It's an all-inclusive cultural attitude change.



There is nothing evil about feminism, just as there is nothing evil about not being a feminist. To those of us who actually call ourselves feminists and work, in whatever way, to achieve the equality we seek, non-feminists just don't get it. Of course, to them, we don't get it! It's reaching the happy medium between the two attitudes that's the real trick. One of these days it may actually happen. I just hope that I'll be around to see it.



I'm sure some people will never agree with the ideas that women have the same abilities and ambitions as men. I'm even willing to accept that there will be individuals of both genders that will refuse to change and will keep teaching archaic attitudes to their children and grandchildren. As long as they aren't too obnoxious, I can deal with those people. I do it all the time as it is.



Amazing, isn't it, that I started out writing about why I felt Tammy shouldn't have to defend her strong feminism and I ended up writing a post defending it myself. Obviously, even those of us sure of our beliefs when it comes to feminism still feel we have to defend it. Even though there's nothing wrong with us we still get treated to such flattering terms as "feminazi" or "man hater" among others. Such labels are, of course, used to make us stand out and feel lessened in the eyes of ourselves and society. Obviously, it's successful to a degree. You know what, though, it just makes us more determined to make the good chamnges we see as possible in society.