And She Was...

I've taken to using this as a spot for just dumping things...I save them up and then make posts that are a collection of all the various things that have been going on.

Things like the weird dreams I've been having-most of them are about places that I used to have to go, like junior high school, where I had to talk about the people I had crushes on back then, or high school where I forgot my locker combination. And then there was the airplane dream. No one needs to tell me that the airplane dream was a birth dream....I dreamed about airplanes, on the ground, rolling through tunnels and into hangars that were smaller than their wingspans. Yeah, that was a birth dream.

There was the strange experience this morning. I got up and got out of bed and heard noise. Before I went to the bathroom or brushed my teeth, I went to investigate what it was, thinking that Cayne had left the TV on or something when he was getting ready for work, only to discover Cayne sitting on the couch watching TV-about an hour later than he usually leaves for work. I asked him what he was doing, and he responded "Sitting on the couch." I asked if he was taking the day off from work and he said "No, it's Saturday." I reminded him it was Friday and he looked shocked. He scurried off, got dressed very quickly and sheepishly headed in to work.

We got the second trimester screening results back-this looked at the risk of Down's Syndrome-1/3000, Trisomy 18 (Edward's Synrome)-1/10,000 and Spina Bifida-1/1600. That of course still means that there are plenty of other thing that could go wrong, but at least that's somewhat reassuring.

We bought a chair last weekend...it arrived the other day and is in a box in the living room, on it's side. It will probably stay there until we figure out what to do with the two chairs it's replacing (one spot is getting a chair, the other is getting a new filing cabinet, but I need to decide if I'm going to Freecycle or Craig's List or what with the old chairs.) But the box is right where a coffee table would go if/when we buy one for the living room. And it's become a hot spot for cats to nap in lately. I wonder if the same thing would happen with a coffee table.

The craving for salty foods is going to drive me crazy. I really wish I could cut back on them, but I can't get enough pickles. I'm going to go open another jar when I'm done with this post.

I hope the writer's strike doesn't mean that the new shoes I like on TV disappear. Not much in the way of new shows that we're watching, just Big Bang Theory and Chuck, I think. And on the subject of TV...NBC Universal has been going on and on this week about all sorts of environmental stuff. They also sent correspondents to the Equator, the Arctic Circle and Antarctica. And my first thought when I heard about this was "I wonder if they accounted for the environmental impact of moving crew and equipment there, and what they did to balance it."

We've both been reading Scott Westerfield's books-in particular the Uglies series. I finished the first one about a year ago, on one of our winter trips, picked up the second one months later and caught the third one on a remainder table at Borders recently. They're adolescent fiction, so they're quick reads, but they're pretty good. Someone at Border's suggested them to me last year. I gave Cayne the fist one when we were traveling recently and he liked it, devoured the second and third within a matter of days, and insisted on having the fourth one, which had just come out in hardcover, and between a coupon and a sale, it was reasonable. The third one felt unevenly written, but the fourth one, the writing has gone back to what we expected, but the concept is really interesting. I'm enjoying the concept of a reputation economy, though I'm wondering how different some of that is from the way adolescents currently live today.


And the links, since I collect them.

This one talks about post partum sex...someone fears that her vagina will be too loose after giving birth. And also on the subject of vaginae, slinkr pointed me at The New York Times on the word Va-jay-jay.

This one (text follows behind the cut) is about a woman who was asked to cover up or leave Universal Studios because she was breastfeeding. (The end result, by the way, is that Universal apologized to her, because Florida law allows her to breastfeed in public.)

( The Cut )


There's also Abstinence Doesn't Curb Teen Sex

( Read about how abstinence fails )

Has anyone looked into Sony's Digital Book Reader? Despite his hatred of Sony, zedrikcayne has suggested that if I want one, I should get it. I haven't really investigated it much yet, but the idea of being able to read while nursing late at night in the dark if I'm awake, for example, is kind of appealing. It's bigger than a Palm, which is also appealing, as I've always found reading on my Palm screen rather irritating. Does anyone know more about it than I do?

We're also starting to shop for cameras-it's amazing what's become lumped in with "baby expenses" even though they really have very little to do with the baby. The two things that first come to mind are more life insurance and the camera. We're looking for a point and shoot, throw into the diaper bag kind of camera. I bought Mom a Canon of some variety last year, and the camera that I'm replacing (nothing wrong with it but the LCD screen is shot, and frankly, the cost of the LCD replacement isn't worth it) is also a Canon.

In case you haven't read about it already, comment editing is in place for paid users. Can't edit a comment that's already been replied to, but it was nice when it helped me correct some bad HTML today.

Okay, that's enough. It's time for pickles.

We're watching the CNN/YouTube Debate at the moment. Here's a conversation we just had:

Cayne:"He's trying to tap dance around that question. If he can't tap dance around that question, he doesn't deserve my vote. I'm a Canadian and I know that."

Me:"You don't get a vote."

Cayne: "Okay, you're right, but you guys have namby-pamby debates down here."

(Follow with discussion of Prime Minister's Question Hour, and the shows "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minster".)

I regularly watch the TV program "Brothers and Sisters" on ABC (in the US-I don't know what networks it's carried on elsewhere if at all.) And I quite enjoy the program-each of the characters enjoys his or her own sort of dysfunction, and the gay character seems no more or less dysfunctional than anyone else in his family. This afternoon, I had time to watch the episode that aired on Sunday evening.

The gay character (Kevin) meets a man at the gym, who seems to be interested in him. They have a few interactions, and Kevin seems unable to determine whether or not the object of his affection is gay or not. One of his sisters suggests that he might be bisexual, to which Kevin replies "No one is bisexual. Have you ever met a 70 year old bisexual? That's why the phrase is 'Bi now, gay later. Everyone chooses at some point." (Note: That may not be a precise quote, but it's as accurate as I can recall at the moment, and the sentiment is all there.)

The show continues, and Kevin becomes intimate with the character, after finding out he has a girlfriend-in fact the character says something to the effect of "She doesn't mind. I've seen her make out with tons of girls."

It's an infrequent thing to find bisexuality addressed on TV...and I'm frustrated by the negative stereotypes that are continually demonstrated for the mainstream TV audience.

(I've left a comment on the Writer's Blog which may or may not appear-the comments are moderated. Do be prepared, if you read the blog, that there are some people who object to the fact that the episode showed two men kissing in the first place. I'll try and update this post and let you know if my comment appears at all. ETA-the comment does now appear in the writer's blog.)

This entry crossposted to my journal and bisexual Apologies if you see it twice.

Cute cartoon-Batman, Superman, and some other fun stuff. Link courtesy of zedrikcayne.

And, our local cable provider has apparently added Logo (the lgbt tv channel) to our lineup. Nice. I'll watch Margaret Cho tomorrow night, for sure.

And, if you're interested in US politics, what's your favorite source for information about candidate and ballot initiatives?

Brief commentary:

I don't believe Amanda Peet as a network exec.

I do like Steven Weber, but that's nothing new. And give me more Timothy Busfield, who I've liked since Thirtysomething.

Besides the fact that they thought it was a good idea to elect Katherine Harris, who played a significant role in the debacle that was the 2000 presidential election...

Today was primary day. So I went and voted. But of course, the airwaves have been filled with political ads leading up to today's primary.

Republican candidate 1 has an ad that attacks Republican candidate 2. Republican candidate 1's ad includes "Sorry, Charlie, only Jeb Bush conservatives get to be president." Republican candidate 2's ad includes "pro-life, Ronald Reagan republican you can trust."

Blech.

Remember former Florida Secretary of State? She's a frequent news item here, because she's running for Senate against incumbent Bill Nelson. And apparently, even the rest of the Republicans don't think she's a good candidate.

Talk about Karma...A waitress asks to see ID before serving a patron a drink, only to be handed her own stolen license.

And, today is the 25th anniversary of MTV's debut. There are a few top N lists floating around. Here's one from the Detroit Free Press and a different one from the AP. Have an interesting opinion piece, for good measure, too.

VH1 Classic is re-running the programming from the first day. I do wish they would bring back Remote Control though. And is anyone else watching VH1's World Series of Pop Culture?