Bless the Beasts and the Children

Ahhhh...Thanksgiving.

It was my first Thanksgiving (and birthday) as an official vegetarian, and it was great! I made quinoa salad with black beans and sweet potatoes (high in protein, low in fat), and everyone loved it! The sweet potato pie was so good this year that it topped the pumpkin pie, and that is something I have never said before. I went out to the country to my mom's house and we did Thanksgiving at her next-door-neighbor's house. They have two 5-month-old dalmatian/bulldog puppies, so the puppies, plus my two greyhounds, plus twelve people at dinner made for a very bustling household. My friend Alyssa was nice enough to send me a link to an NPR article about great Thanksgiving vegetarian dishes, so I'm excited to try some more new recipes next year. The day wasn't without drama though, as someone (we never figured out who) didn't take me seriously and decided to let the greyhounds out...ugh. And then Clive suffered from "happy tail syndrome" and split his tail open, splattering blood all over my mom's walls and floors. But what's a holiday without some drama, right?

The day after Thanksgiving, I had to work, but of course I celebrated "Buy Nothing Day." Although unfortunately, a lot of people took Black Friday waaaaay too seriously, stampeding over one man in NY and shooting two others in California. Maybe these people should stay at home and teach their children that kindness is more important than consumerism. I think mortgage payments and credit card debt elimination should take higher priorities right now than 10% off sales.

Today I chilled out, busted out the Christmas iPod playlist and put up some Christmas decorations (see pic). I got to talk to my awesome friend Jill, watched a cheesy holiday movie, and ate some delicious Thanksgiving leftovers. It was a good week.

Virtual High Five

ME:
I feel like giving [name left out to protect the guilty] a high five for remembering the dash in this title.

HIM:
He didn't. I fixed it.

ME:
Well, then a virtual high five to you!!

Alternative Parents Encourage Their Children to Learn by Eating Other Children's Heads!

My very good friend Jill (on the left in the picture) was interviewed for this Journal & Courier article about an alternative parenting group she started called CHOICES (Choices in Healthy birth, Offering Information, Communication, Education and Support).

I have so much respect for Jill and all of the research she does on every single aspect of mothering, from vaccinations to diapering to nutrition.

In my opinion it's a shame that in much of America, so many of these ideas are looked down on. Why is breast feeding in public such a taboo? Heaven forbid you feed your child the way God created. And just try bringing up cloth diapering in a group of people! Cloth diapering was the only way of diapering for decades, but mention it now and you must be clinically insane and are deserving of being locked up in a mental institution. Obviously it's a much better choice to spend hundreds of dollars on disposable plastic diapers (not to mention contributing to the carbon output of manufacturing plastic diapers and shipping them), fill up our landfills with stinky poo plastic, and then wash your hands of all of it, so to speak, because "out of sight out of mind." Imagine if parents took every single diaper they used for a year and threw it in their backyard to actually SEE how much their diaper output contributes to our landfills.

Someday if I become a mother, I plan on being open-minded towards alternative parenting ideas, and I hope to find a group like CHOICES where I am not looked down upon for questioning parenting norms, and feel comfortable researching my mothering options and planning the best path for my family.

Pet Peeve

"Supposedly." It's not a difficult word. Note the "d," which is not to be forgotten, nor replaced with a "v" or a "b." It's a four syllable word, people - that's it. And here's the thing; think how silly it would sound if people made this same pronunciation mistake when using the adjective form of the word, "supposed." You never hear "supposeb" or "supposev." It only seems to be the adverb "supposedly" that is hacked to death with mispronunciations.

Black Hole Sun

I happened to see this news story earlier this week, and then by chance today I was doing dishes and looked up just as this same van whizzed down my street! In the video it drives nice and slow, but it was really booking it along my hilly street. All I have to say is that I hope it drove south on Zang, because that street is a mess!


Data For Better Roadways

Celebrating the Obama Victory, Harvard Yard Style

Hackers and Spending Sprees: Secrets of the 2008 Campaign

Full Newsweek Article Here

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

... McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.

Hoosier Daddy?!

1) Indiana is officially called for OBAMA, BABY!

There will most definitely be some celebratory euchre this weekend here in honor of it.

2) Dallas County was 60% BLUE, and McCain won the state of Texas by LESS than a 10% margin, which is awesome. And for a while there, the state of Texas was BLUE on my computer screen:

3) New ObamaBats font already released.

4) My boy Clive says "ROOOOOOOOOOOO" in support of Massachusetts' vote to BAN greyhound racing!

5) Though I am very saddened that it seems California will pass Prop 8, I am also very happy that the state passed Prop 2 to provide humane conditions and rights to factory farm animals.

Yes We Can?

YES WE DID!!

Trying To Understand...

kleptomaniacs!

Will Obama's Grandmother's Absentee Vote Count?

Will Madelyn Dunham’s Vote Count?

I was talking with a coworker earlier today about how sad it was for Barack Obama’s grandmother to have died on the day before the election. My coworker took the sadness one step further, wondering if Madelyn Dunham’s vote (she voted by early absentee ballot) would now not be counted.
Not knowing the answer, I called the Office of Elections in Hawaii. Kevin Cronin, chief election officer for the state, just got back to me. Here’s what he said:

Ms. Dunham’s absentee mail ballot was received and reviewed under the Hawaii standards for processing absentee mail ballots… She was alive at that time. Her ballot will be opened tomorrow, and it will be counted in the same way that all absentee voters would be treated under our law.

The key point appears to be that Ms. Dunham was alive at the time her absentee ballot was received and reviewed, and that it met the standards for review at that time.
Madelyn Dunham’s vote will count, even if she is not here to learn the final tally.