Parenting 101
05-12-2004, 18:04News / SportsPermalinkPhiladelphia Magazine includes a monthly column called "Loco Parentis" in which writer Sandy Hingston describes the trials and tribs of raising kids these days. In the current (Dec. 2004) issue Ms. Hingston complains that her daughter, who apparently agrees with most of her mother's opinions, just doesn't GET that abortion is OK. Her arguments fall on deaf ears, she says. The daughter continues to insist that a fetus is a baby and it's not okay to kill a baby.
"I've pointed out how the rich white men who run this country wish to hell we were still stuck back in 1950, and don't want women to be educated or intelligent or empowered in any way."
As is always the case when I read statements like this, I am stunned that an educated person would spout such nonsense. Does she really believe this? Or is she just repeating the feminist movement's 40 year old talking points in order to get her kid to see the light?
Regardless, the arguments fail. As a last resort, Mom decides to level with the kid about the abortion she had when she was in college. In other words, she tells her daughter, who believes that abortion is the killing of a baby, that she aborted the girl's half-sibling.
I've never had an abortion -- or even a miscarriage -- but I understand it is common in either situation to be haunted (or at least occasionally bothered) by thoughts of what might have been. So wouldn't you expect a teenager to experience similar feelings upon learning that her mother had terminated a pregnancy?
Wouldn't she likely wonder what kind of person that sibling would have turned out to be and feel a sense of loss because she will never know him or her? Perhaps she would also feel guilty, knowing that she would not be alive today if her mother had taken a different path (and given birth to that other child) years earlier.
Was it that important, Ms. Hingston, that your NON-pregnant teenage daughter agree with your position on abortion? Did she really need to hear that story at her age?
iTunes is currently playing: Real Emotional Girl from the album Guilty: 30 Years Of Randy Newman by Randy Newman.
QUESTION: What’s cuter than a Mini Cooper?
05-12-2004, 14:25ShoppingPermalinkI hope to be driving one in a few months. I'm leaning toward a convertible in one of these two color combinations:
Want to help me decide? Cast your vote below.
iTunes is currently playing: Driving from the album The Language Of Life by Everything But The Girl.
Rating Books and Music
11-11-2004, 16:53Lit / Art / Music /PhotoPermalinkiTunes is currently playing: Wonderful! Wonderful! from the album 16 Most Requested Songs by Johnny Mathis.
Burgers and Bytes
31-10-2004, 19:15Family / Misc. PersonalPermalinkOne of the best things about visiting the western portion of the country is that I get to visit my favorite restaurants and stores -- places I grew to love when I lived in L.A. and made frequent visits to Vegas. Sadly, many of them are not found on the East Coast :(
Here are two of my favorites, which I was (happily) able to visit while I was there:
(I hit two different In-N-Outs in three days!)
This new Fry's Electronics seems bigger and brighter than the L.A. stores -- at least bigger and brighter than they were several years ago. I bought a game while I was there -- an animated Hearts game on a PC/Mac hybrid CD. It's really cute!! But I haven't played Hearts for so long that I can't remember how to play. Yes, boys and girls, that is what happens when you hit the big FIVE O!! Your brain turns to mush.
iTunes is currently playing: Promise Land from the album Hearts And Flowers by Joan Armatrading.
As if I needed more reasons …
18-10-2004, 20:02News / SportsPermalinkClick here and get ready to retch.
oy vey ...
iTunes is currently playing: BEHIND THE MASK from the album FAKER HOLIC / Disc2 by Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Gang Colors
30-09-2004, 12:42News / SportsPermalinkI have trouble remembering how to pronounce certain words, too. I lived in L.A. for about 15 years before I could say "La Cienega" without sounding it out in my head first. That probably explains why it doesn't bother me when President Bush mispronounces "nuclear". His people can correct him until they are blue in the face but it just doesn't take with people like us.
I think these little ... quirks ... make us more interesting... don't you?
iTunes is currently playing: One Of The Things I Do So Well from the album Life Is Good by Livingston Taylor.
Wired Magazine piece: “Rebooting Iraq”
29-09-2004, 17:22News / SportsPermalinkBefore the collapse of the regime, average monthly salaries were $10 to $15. Now, in less than a year, the average salary is 10 times that, and inflation is down. Previously, no Iraqi was allowed to have a cell phone or an Internet connection. But now there are no restrictions, and our markets are full of computers and electrical appliances.
Assuming he is not making this stuff up and that many Iraqis are considerably better off financially since we showed up on the scene, why do we not hear this sort of thing from the media? To read the news, you would think that no good has come from our presence, wouldn't you.
iTunes is currently playing: Life During Wartime from the album Fear Of Music by Talking Heads.
Who says English degrees are useless?
27-09-2004, 18:48Lit / Art / Music /PhotoPermalinkThe most interesting thing about this experience, however, was that I came across a book written by someone I know that I didn't know had written a book. I had heard of the book ("The Contortionist's Handbook") but had no idea who wrote it. Turns out the author is Craig Clevenger, a guy I went to school with at Cal State Long Beach. I don't know if he would remember me (I never expect anyone to remember me and am always surprised when someone does) but I remember him. I didn't know him very well, but he was a good writer and a nice guy and I am really happy for him.
(His book, by the way, has a great opening sentence: “I can count my overdoses on one hand.") You can read a tantalizing excerpt from the book here.
iTunes is currently playing: I Can Do That from the album A Chorus Line by Wayne Cilento. ("I got to class and had it made and so I stayed the rest of my life ... ")
Early Morning Fright
19-09-2004, 06:42Family / Misc. PersonalPermalinkWe don't have a dog.
My heart is still pounding.
iTunes is currently playing: While My Heart Is Still Beating from the album Heart Still Beating by Roxy Music.
Billie Holiday Fans: Deal of the Century!
13-09-2004, 19:49Lit / Art / Music /PhotoPermalink
What a voice. Highly recommended!
iTunes is currently playing: Solitude from the CD set Billie Holiday: Portrait .
