tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80387152024-03-07T02:02:29.562-05:00StarSpangledHaggisScottish girl and her kooky family move to the States in 1981. Hilarity ensues. She grows up and marries a nice Jewish boy. Hilarity ensues. They adopt two awesome girls from China. Hilarity ensues. She writes a blog. Hilarity ensues?Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.comBlogger1957125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-39138714444027019052012-01-11T00:32:00.001-05:002012-01-11T00:32:20.394-05:00Haggis Has a New HomeThe Haggis has moved to Wordpress!<br />
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<a href="http://starspangledhaggis.wordpress.com/">starspangledhaggis.wordpress.com</a><br />
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Please adjust your online habits accordingly. <br />
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See you there!Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-67850555773925680872012-01-09T12:19:00.000-05:002012-01-09T21:35:34.960-05:00Idiots On ParadeA few opening thoughts on the state of the GOP race to the bottom:<br />
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In the year 2012, there is a credible candidate for the United States presidency who is anti-contraception. Think about that for a minute, folks. An actual candidate is in favor of states outlawing contraception. The fact that he is garnering votes perhaps says more about peoples' ability to compartmentalize evidence of outright foolery (since I'm assuming all Of his supporters do not have 5 or 6 kids with more on the way naturally) than it does Santorum's lunatic fringe jackassery.<br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/santorum-ban-contraception-romney-says-working-just-fine-045412035.html">Santorum</a><br />
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I'm always mystified how people who believe deeply in the limited role of government are completely fine with government intrusion into female reproductive decisions. How does that make any sense? Ron Paul wants to defund this, dismantle that, who gives a crap if Iran has nukes-not our business. But my vagina? Totally his business. My uterus? On his short short list of things to care about. Yeah yeah, he says it's not the FEDERAL government's issue. Like Santorum, he is going to leave it to the states to prosecute those involved. Once again, jackassery.<br />
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But my overall Award for Jackassery Lifetime Achievement goes to the entire Republican primary electorate for rewarding the eminently qualified, electable and (hear me, children of Reagan) NOT INSANE Jon Huntsman with single digit polling numbers. Yes, he is anti-choice, which makes him toxic to me, but to you? You should like him. Reagan would have voted for Huntsman. He would have avoided the hell out of every other clown in the race unless Lee Atwater made him say hello. Reagan, although not my favorite president, understood that politics requires--REQUIRES--compromise. If you have immovable beliefs that preclude you from talking turkey with Ted Kennedy, then go join a fucking church. If you want to move your ball forward while helping your fellow Americans of all political stripes, then run for office and do what you have to do to better the lives of others, recognizing the immortal words of that great statesman Mick Jagger: you can't always get what you want.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-5666282638344951852012-01-08T23:49:00.001-05:002012-01-09T21:37:31.763-05:00Four More Years!Wilkommen Bienvenue Welcome! (it sounds even better if you say it in the voice of Madeline "Lili Von Shtupp" Kahn). <br />
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Welcome to the new but not necessarily improved Star Spangled Haggis 2012. (housekeeping is ongoing, darlings) <br />
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Yeah yeah, I know I closed up shop back in the day. Just call me The Who, with my twice-a-decade farewell tours. But this election cycle has just proven too damn entertaining, infuriating and bowel-lurchingly terrifying to sit out. The web needs the progressively moderate voice of The Haggis! George Stephanopoulos and Bill O'Reilly require the profoundly erudite perspective of The Haggis in order to prep for their shows! The POTUS candidates need the laser-like insight of The Haggis in order to track the zeitgeist of the American voter! Oh, yes, friends. The Haggis is good for the web, good for America. Which is why we are back. Oh, and also because the ever-patient BabyDaddy might divorce me if I harangue him one more time about The Evils of Newt Gingrich or the Perils of Ron Paul. <br />
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So here we are. I think this is the part where I say God Bless Haggis readers, and God Bless the United States of America!Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-88965174007017712942010-04-12T12:48:00.002-04:002010-04-12T12:53:03.504-04:00A New EraHi All. As my life has progressed, The Haggis has felt more and more like something from my past. It was such a wonderful outlet for writing, for meeting you, for hearing your comments, and for connecting with so many wonderful people. I thank you for all of your support over the past six years (yes! six years!) and invite you to follow more personal than political events at<br /><br /><a href="http://desmondandmollyjones.wordpress.com">http://desmondandmollyjones.wordpress.com</a><br /><br />Thanks again for all the love and support!Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-63384304452516051442010-02-18T03:11:00.002-05:002010-02-18T03:21:17.216-05:00Thanks For Your TimeFriends, the bad news is that blogging has been and will be infrequent.<br /><br />The good news is that it's because we received our travel authorization for China to bring home Baby Sister. We've had her photo since October, and every day since then has been exquisite torture waiting for the go-ahead. So now that we have it, we have 2 1/2 weeks to get ready for wheels up to China. Woo Hoo!<br /><br />Which means that I'm using every spare moment to pack, plan and purchase, not to mention prepare Bambina for what lies ahead. She' s very excited to be a big sister in theory, but in practice it is and will be a major adjustment for her. Just last night we received a new pic of Baby Sister. I said, "Wow. We have two beautiful girls in our family!" Her reply? "Um, Mama? I think every family should have one kid who is the cutest, and I feel strongly that it should be me." She then suggested that Baby Sister could perhaps hold the top spot for "smallest" or "slowest." Nice.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-1859884458564257422010-02-06T06:22:00.002-05:002010-02-06T06:26:10.543-05:00ObstaclesI just read this in the latest issue of The Sun magazine, and it absolutely floored me--as I wait impatiently for my daughter, for my health to improve so I can get off my horrible meds, for the planets to align in whatever way I've convinced myself they must align this day. Enjoy.<br /><br />Because Even The Word Obstacle Is An Obstacle<br /><br />Try to love everything that gets in your way;<br />The Chinese women in flowered bathing caps<br />murmuring together in Mandarin and doing leg exercises in your lane<br />while you execute thirty-six furious laps,<br />one for every item on your to-do list.<br />The heavy-bellied man who goes thrashing through the water<br />like a horse with a harpoon stuck in its side and<br />whose breathless tsunamis rock you from your course.<br />Teachers all. Learn to be small<br />and swim past obstacles like a minnow,<br />without grudges or memory. Dart<br />toward your goal, sperm to egg. Thinking, Obstacle,<br />is another obstacle. Try to love the teenage girl<br />lounging against the ladder, showing off her new tattoo:<br />Cette vie est la mienne, This life is mine,<br />in thick blue-black letters on her ivory instep.<br />Be glad she'll have that to look at the rest of her life, and<br />keep going. Swim by an uncle<br />in the lane next to yours who is teaching his nephew<br />how to hold his breath underwater,<br />even though kids aren't supposed<br />to be in the pool at this hour. Someday,<br />years from now, this boy<br />who is kicking and flailing in the exact place<br />you want to touch and turn<br />may be a young man at a wedding on a boat,<br />raising his champagne glass in a toast<br />when a huge wave hits, washing everyone overboard.<br />He'll come up coughing and spitting like he is now,<br />but he'll come up like a cork,<br />alive. So your moment<br />of impatience must bow in service to the larger story,<br />because if something is in your way, it is<br />going your way, the way<br />of all beings: toward darkness, toward light.<br /><br />- Allison LutermanEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-43442800935135963482010-02-06T06:10:00.004-05:002010-02-06T06:17:33.716-05:00A Few More Photos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicX8x9hTAzTHii8Q7R2x1oXy1nXSY7RQV180jzWWvCo8w4krh1yS4lu34VxjHQQB9PtE5g1nnAN3WDFsH-dk43g8T1hVyw3HQLdV0vlgRjZ76ITJfp98T8DoFy-jDso-zVNFul5w/s1600-h/IMG_4039.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicX8x9hTAzTHii8Q7R2x1oXy1nXSY7RQV180jzWWvCo8w4krh1yS4lu34VxjHQQB9PtE5g1nnAN3WDFsH-dk43g8T1hVyw3HQLdV0vlgRjZ76ITJfp98T8DoFy-jDso-zVNFul5w/s320/IMG_4039.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435087591546608274" /></a> Bambina rocking the Irish Step Dancing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWchtdHJEmv6J5eX-4QYBBpHxHs7EXAGh9Lq6JieSDhRuvmn-tokoUAjq5TjL8V0qpqZwYQGmBASr8uA7qMJqu0xy_lc1eREwX6jbL2uT3zKpOXTMLK0hl30L93ccVOSywqYmVjg/s1600-h/IMG_4043.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWchtdHJEmv6J5eX-4QYBBpHxHs7EXAGh9Lq6JieSDhRuvmn-tokoUAjq5TjL8V0qpqZwYQGmBASr8uA7qMJqu0xy_lc1eREwX6jbL2uT3zKpOXTMLK0hl30L93ccVOSywqYmVjg/s320/IMG_4043.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435086934069571554" /></a>The view while I waited at the airport for Grandma and Big Cousin's arrival<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLClKD3K3Qx6mfm0SXAwaspITWTz9z6zwznsi7ueMvpHOCR5vcqwW5t-UM4RvuCN3-miX4seWTEK3AL-NoR0q6pp9OhoJZLVSuE3qJCKBLjLykuTpsmzOyf-G1nhGfLeFhS6CpQ/s1600-h/IMG_4049.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLClKD3K3Qx6mfm0SXAwaspITWTz9z6zwznsi7ueMvpHOCR5vcqwW5t-UM4RvuCN3-miX4seWTEK3AL-NoR0q6pp9OhoJZLVSuE3qJCKBLjLykuTpsmzOyf-G1nhGfLeFhS6CpQ/s320/IMG_4049.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435086928270303650" /></a>The happiest cousins on the block. Bambina was thrilled to have her cousin pick her up at school and meet her friends.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-42998046025775722822010-02-05T06:18:00.007-05:002010-02-05T06:38:04.347-05:00Let Me Tell You About My Slow CookerPerhaps completing my descent into full-on suburban housewife-itude, I have purchased a slow cooker. At Walmart.<br /><br />Friends, the slow cooker has changed my life, and let me tell you why. First, I am the crappiest cook you have ever met. No, really. You think that other lady was? Or your old girlfriend? Or your current wife? Or your mother? Or your father? No, dear. It's me. I just don't have the burn for it. I mean, I go through phases where I think, "I'm going to take cooking classes!" because I want to be a good wife to my husband who works all day, and this is how I will contribute to the household and blah blah. And then I start to cook something and I'm like, "Why do I have to fucking 'julienne' or 'dice' this? I don't have time for this! How about I just chop it up and throw it in, for god's sake?!" And then we end up eating some dish containing giant onion chunks where there should have been a soupcon of onion essence gliding across the palate. And then I've got to be standing there at the stove managing the different ingredients, like, "oh! It's time to add the adobo paste! Where is the damn adobo paste? Oh, I don't have adobo paste. Does paprika work? Yeah, paprika. Oh no, the onions are burning rather than caramelizing because I went to look for adobo paste!" It's pure hell--for me and for the folks who need to eat paprika-flavored chili.<br /><br />Enter the slow cooker. Enter the million websites with slow cooker recipes, all of which involve about 4 steps: maybe brown the meat, maybe not. Chop the vegetables. Add the spices. Cook on high for 6 hours. I simply cannot ruin a dinner cooked in the slow cooker. And can we discuss the reduction in grocery bills as a result? Cheap cuts of meat, quality veggies, quality spices...and leftovers, baby!<br /><br />The good people at Hamilton Beach have been reading my diary, because this is a straight-up dream come true. I just made the Obama Family Chili for a friend who just had a baby and needs some help. Took me 15 minutes. See? The slow cooker contributing to tikkun olam. Ordinarily, I would shy away from being a meals-on-wheels mitzvah girl simply because I hate to further burden already-afflicted individuals with my nasty-ass cooking. But this time? Kid-friendly chili for four delivered to your door! And the extra? MY child ate it. Liked it. (Note: the key to this chili is the mildness, more turmeric and oregano than chili powder, served over rice. Very Hawaiian/Indonesian influence. Parents can add the spice to their bowls, the kids devour the chili out of the pot because it's a flavorful, accessible, and healthy sloppy joe-seeming meal.) Bisous to Michelle Obama for this one.<br /><br />Today is busy, what with the visitors arriving. So tonight is going to be a soup from this amazing blog, recommended by my girl VC: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/10/sweet-potato-and-sausage-soup/. And I shall spend precisely 10 minutes putting it together, thank you.<br /><br />I don't know why I waited so long to get a crockpot, y'all. Oh wait, I do. Because I am an elitist snob who thought they were only for people who liked to cook "meals" with campbell's cream of mushroom soup and velveeta. Well, you all have the last laugh now. I honor you, crockpot women of America.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-5302314791112760892010-02-05T05:54:00.006-05:002010-02-05T06:13:55.072-05:00Friday Linky FunGrandma Haggis and Bambina's cousin are arriving today for the weekend, so things will be (even) slower than usual around the blog today. They are escaping the DC Snowpocalypse by perhaps an hour, so we'll see how long they are residing with us should the DC airports not reopen on Sunday. In any event, we're happy to accommodate them here in Massachusetts where we not only love wealthy pickup truck driving Republicans, but we know how to plow a damn street. Wilkommen, poor wretched DC castoffs!<br /><br />First up: a shocking and racist indictment of my home country. This notion that Scottish people drink too much! Lies! All lies, I tell you! <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/world/europe/04scotland.html?emc=eta1">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/world/europe/04scotland.html?emc=eta1</a> Oh yeah, the reference to "depressed industrial area Strathclyde"? My home county. Boo-ya!<br /><br />Next, Bambina rejoices! Having cured cancer, we have now redesigned the ketchup packet to allow for dunking! <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9743988">http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9743988</a><br /><br />In the "What an asshole!" category, here is Republican Senator Shelby from Louisiana placing a blanket hold on ALL Obama nominees until his state gets its two pet billion-dollar projects back. THAT is some seriously awesome fiscal restraint right there. h<a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/report-shelby-blocks-all-obama-nominations-in-the-senate-over-al-earmarks.php?ref=fpblg">ttp://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/report-shelby-blocks-all-obama-nominations-in-the-senate-over-al-earmarks.php?ref=fpblg</a><br /><br />And, finally, a plea. Can we all just stop using the word "retarded" already? First, because it is unnecessary, inappropriate and undeniably cruel. I remember "retarded" kids being teased at school and I remember just having my heart break for them. It's the worst kind of grade school insult--and can we all agree we're above that? Second, let's ban it because I want Sarah Palin to go away. Every time someone (I'm looking at you, Rahm Emanuel, you no-class boor--but apparently not you, Rush Limbaugh because you run the conservative movement and Caribou Barbie dare not cross you) says "retarded" to mean stupid, it gives Palin another reason to be in the news cycle. So--do we have a deal? Morons are morons. Losers are losers. Dimwits are dimwits. Let's let the word "retarded" fade into oblivion, and with it, Sarah Palin.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-35801096641584328302010-02-04T04:56:00.004-05:002010-02-04T05:04:25.150-05:00The Party of ObstructionIf there's any question that the Congressional GOP has zero interest in working in a bipartisan fashion, allow their own words to settle it for you: <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/31/top-house-republican-cites-few-opportunities-to-work-with-dems/?fbid=PPXUo3-BCqG">politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com</a><br /><br />Seriously, folks. Obstruction is not a long-term winning strategy, regardless of how tingly it may make Mitch McConnell feel. I look forward to some reality-based GOP proposals to go along with their opposition. Dare I hold my breath?Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-7971899129002479212010-02-04T04:25:00.001-05:002010-02-04T04:28:21.692-05:00GOP FAILJust in case you support the new GOP purity test for candidates, please know that Ronald Reagan failed it:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-01/the-republicans-reagan-amnesia/?cid=hp:mainpromo5">www.thedailybeast.com</a>Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-41881119529503849422010-02-03T21:32:00.007-05:002010-02-03T22:02:16.978-05:00Kidnapped<a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.64f93e3e5ec86eaffb1af7e7d2f5a565.d31&show_article=1">http://www.breitbart.com</a><br /><br />That's the shills at Breitbart dinging Secretary of State Clinton for not immediately defending the Christian church group that got caught busing Haitian kids into the Dominican Republic. <br /><br />WHERE DO I START?!<br /><br />I could go on and on about the reams of effing paperwork I have filled out to adopt my daughters, the invasive and unbelievable questions I have answered, the permission (and fees) I have given to have every square inch of my life's history investigated for even a whiff of wrongdoing--all to ensure that I am not a child abuser or a child trafficker. And yes, I complain about the process, but hear me now and believe me later, it SHOULD be hard to adopt a child. It SHOULD be a process that makes you sometimes wonder if you have the stones for it. It SHOULD be a series of events that cause attrition. If it was as easy as busing a bunch of kids into a neighboring country, we'd all be doing it--and that is unconscionable from the perspective of child safety.<br /><br />I deplore the "good Christians" who were--let's call it what it is--kidnapping Haitian kids. Stunts like this are part of the reason the Hague had to institute the regulations it instituted. Yes, the pedophiles and the traffickers. But also the "well-meaning" people who treat children as charity cases, as nothing more than a means to the Lord's ends, rather than as human beings who exist separate from whatever desires and motives their "helpers" might have. On what planet do you round up a bunch of kids you don't know anything about (including the fact that a couple of them actually did have family from whom they were separated) and just summarily transport them to a foreign country simply because you have a need to "help" them? It is absolutely unconscionable--and completely un-Christian. Do you disagree? Then imagine a disaster like Katrina in your neighborhood. You're separated from your kids, maybe you don't know if each other is alive or dead. Then imagine some church group from Mexico or Canada simply picking your kid up and transporting them internationally--because they want to help. Less altruistic-seeming now, isn't it?<br /><br /> I wish no harm upon these people, but I do hope that they will stop saying that they should be excused simply because they were trying to help. You kidnapped children. For whatever reason; you kidnapped children.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-12954563395942096832010-01-29T23:04:00.002-05:002010-01-29T23:14:02.645-05:00The Obama Train Rolls OnSuch a short post this will be. How FABULOUS was today's Q&A between President Obama and the GOP? As I said elsewhere, the President absolutely cleaned their clocks while the cameras rolled. There are already mumblings among GOPers that it should never have been allowed. But you KNOW they thought they were going to catch the President on something, thereby creating a 10 day vicious news cycle to feed off the nasty politics of the moment. Instead, they got a President who dismantled every single one of their specious arguments, and a President who was not afraid of them. As someone else, a Republican said to me, "Why they thought they'd win an debate with a gifted lawyer is beyond me..." Of course, now the GOP is saying the President "lectured" them. Which is it, guys? You invited him to a gotcha and you won? Or you invited him to a gotcha and he "lectured" you? Either way, you lost. <br /><br />Thank you, Gods of Television! And thank you, GOP. Please keep bringing "Teh Stupid" and perhaps Obama will keep bringing "Teh Smackdown." <br /><br />Here's some video:<br /><a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/obama-does-question-time-with-the-house-gop.php">http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/obama-does-question-time-with-the-house-gop.php</a>Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-46179687880621773672010-01-29T22:48:00.003-05:002010-01-29T22:58:11.811-05:00Dance FeverI don't know what this says about me as a parent, but my child has officially written her second ever song. The first was created when she was about 4, and it was called "Coconuts Tonight." It involved her sitting at the keyboard and jubilantly hammering the keys while singing at top volume, "Coconuts tonight! Coconuts tonight!!" Real ASCAP material, folks.<br /><br />Well, her "second official song, Mama, and I want to put the 'tm' after it so no one else can steal it" is entitled--wait for it--"Dance With the Boobies and Bra." Oh dear lord. Because she is serious. She wrote the music and lyrics all by herself and she wants it registered "with the TM." I have been living in fear since she wrote it that she will bust out with this totally inappropriate song simply because she is so damn proud of herself. I swear to god, dear reader(s), that I do not say "boobies" to her, nor do I encourage her to pen melodies encouraging people to get on up and dance with them. It's a mystery. But the worst part is that the melody is actually rather catchy, as are the "lyrics" which I share with you below as long as you promise not to steal them:<br /><br />Oh, dance with the boobies and bra<br />Just dance with the boobies and bra<br />Dance with the boobies and bra<br />Just dance with the boobies and bra<br />You can dance with the boobies<br />You can dance with a bra<br />Or you can boogie down with them both!<br /><br />I'd write more, but I'm now off to boogie down with them both.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-64616840064793628842010-01-29T10:52:00.002-05:002010-01-29T22:45:41.748-05:00Friday FreaksFINALLY posting this after being shut out of blogger all day. GRRRR...<br /><br />I don't get out much, friends. But when I do I seem to find the freaks.<br /><br />The other night I went to a Suzuki violin school parent orientation. The man leading the meeting had a big ol' Tom Selleck moustache. So let's just start there for Glamour Don'ts. He shakes my hand, and only then does it become clear to me that he is so sick with a head cold that he really should have begged off the meeting and sent a colleague. So I'm immediately grossed out that I've touched him. He then proceeds to conduct the meeting while doing that sniff/snort/booger thing that people with bad colds do in order to breathe and talk. So I'm listening while trying to block out the boogsnarf noise when I notice that he has snot coming out of his nose, only because it's landing on--and sliding down--his prodigious pornstache, he is blissfully unaware of the situation. At this point I can barely contain my gag reflex and I am mentally devising an escape route, but there IS no escape route. I'm stuck. He yammers on for AN HOUR about Suzuki piano and his kids and how he teaches his students and the beauty and mystery of Dr. Suzuki, which of course is meaningless to me, and then asks finally, "So, any questions?" Um, yeah: Pretty much all of the questions I was told this session would answer! So the final result was that I spent an hour watching gelatinous snot drip from a drip, learned zip...and thought "Oh sh*t!" when I found out the tuition chit. So, the bad news is that there will be no Suzuki lessons for Bambina, the good news is that when we pay off our house and cars in 20 years and can pay for lessons, I won't have to go back to the orientation. Freak.<br /><br />Then I'm at a mother-daughter event where there are a couple of other families with kids adopted internationally. Now, contrary to popular practice, I don't rush over to such families any more than I'd rush over to any other group of strangers. Mostly because, well, that's weird, "Hey! Your kid is Chinese! So is mine! Wanna be friends?!" Weird. Second, my child hates being singled out for being different from me, so I make a real effort to not visit that upon someone else's kid. But there's always someone who does. One lady, who adopted her daughters from Cambodia, said loudly in a group of other moms to whom I'd been chatting, "I notice that you have a beautiful Asian daughter too. Were is she from?" China. "Oh mine are from Cambodia. Can you believe how ridiculous the process is? Oh my god!.." And then proceeds to complain about the wait, the paperwork, the drama. I did offer that our process has been a little bit long, but not because of China entirely, that a lot of the holdup has been on the US side and that I'm sure the processes were completely different since they are different countries. But I was just so very uncomfortable with her airing her issues with the process in front of total strangers (including me). I mean, this is how you became your children's mother. What are you saying? I never want my kids to think that the process of becoming their mother made me angry or bitter or pissed in any way. What does that communicate to your child about her if you do? So I spent the next 45 minutes trying to change the subject, to get her to say something positive, and to pretty much stop including me in a discussion of which I wanted no part. Freak.<br /><br />Then I'm at Whole Foods (yeah, I know I'm on record as despising Whole Paycheck, but they are the only place that carries Culturelle--and girlfriend needs her daily triple dose of intestinal flora since last month's unfortunate Stomach Virus Incident), and I go to the Express Lane, where there is a lovely senior citizen manning the checkout. He's darling, but he is S-L-O-W. I literally have ONE item. One. With a coupon. Well, now it's drama because he can't get the scanner to read the printed barcode. "Is this coupon off the computer?" Yes. (Because who buys a Sunday paper anymore?) "I can't scan it." Why? "It won't scan." Can you try the handheld scanner? "That won't work." Can you try it? Meanwhile he's trying to read the fine print on the coupon, for what reason I know not. Finally another worker comes over to bag and sees the line getting longer and longer, so she grabs the handheld and--voila!--coupon scans (of course). Best part? As I leave, he is STILL reading the coupon! Freak.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-72587800695971869742010-01-28T06:07:00.003-05:002010-01-28T06:24:58.529-05:00Hold the Phones!Many of you will have seen the news about ACORN-exposer James O'Keefe and three friends being arrested for trying to tamper with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu's phone system. <a href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/01/27/2187074.aspx">msnbc</a><br /><br />I find the Right's response to this felony to be telling. 1. It was a prank! Not a crime! 2. Michael Moore does this all the time and the Left cheers! 3. The liberal media is making more out of this than it is! 4. If they shouldn't have been there then security shouldn't have let them in.<br /><br />Where do I even begin?! Let's start with the obvious: <br /><br />If these were four unemployed men of middle-eastern descent committing a "prank" rather than some conservative rich kids (one of whose father is the acting US attorney in Western LA), how would Fox News be reacting? <br /><br />Tampering with a Senator's phones is illegal. Tampering with MY phone is illegal. If you come to my house under false pretenses to disable my phone--even if it's just some kooky, wacky fun for you--it is still illegal. More so if the phones you are attempting to disable belong to the United States government. At the very least it's criminal trespass.<br /><br />Michael Moore is one of my least favorite people. I don't watch his stuff if I can help it. But here's the difference: Michael Moore has never committed a felony. He's been an obnoxious pain in the ass and provided some very awkward and uncomfortable moments for people in power (and the viewing audience), but he has never tampered with someone's telephone or impersonated a phone repair person for the purposes of gaining entry to a secure area to embarrass someone. He has always just kind of allowed them to embarrass themselves in the open, without all this college-style dress-up chicanery.<br /><br />To believe the security excuse, then you'd have to let every terrorist off the hook, since after all it was airport security that let them on the plane, and if they shouldn't have been on the plane then it's not their fault that they got on the plane. Yeah, I don't see anyone at Faux News taking up that opinion.<br /><br />So let's just call this for what it is. Four guys who take their cues from their days as conservative college newspaper people, who think dressing up and playing pretend "Jackass-style" is the way to speak truth to power. Point being, that mess might work on some college campus but it doesn't really work in the real world. You know, where there are real consequences for your actions. Where committing a felony is a serious offense, even if you did go buy some cool costumes.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-15769312111138959552010-01-27T21:24:00.012-05:002010-01-27T22:17:08.219-05:00SOTU + POTUS = NOT PDQOh, it's gonna be a long one, darlings! Barry is BRINGIN' IT tonight. Don't know yet if he'll bring it boring or ugly or inspired, but the word on the street is that he's bringin' SEVENTY DAMN MINUTES of it, baby. Hope you don't need a potty break!<br /><br />Oh, he's comin' out smiling. And swingin'. Poking fun at the GOP: "Oh, I thought I'd get some applause for that one!" <br /><br />Awesome proposal: take $30 million that the Wall Street banks pay back and give it to small community banks to loan to small businesses. No GOP applause? Porque? Oh--they don't like that their pals on corporate welfare are being asked to offer restitution to the American taxpayer, which I find interesting seeing as they always go on and on about how great the taxpayers are, and how we are entitled to more of our own money. But why not now? Hmm...<br /><br />As I'm watching this, I'm realizing that the entire purpose of this speech is to rally the troops. Dems in Congress. Americans on Main Street. The party faithful. Obama needs to re-energize the base, and tonight is his chance to do it, back in campaign style. And this is where political types will see the effect of David Plouffe's return to the fold. Those of you who recall know that David Plouffe was The Architect of Obama's winning campaign; he just returned to the organization last week, and damn if it isn't obvious.<br /><br />Another question: How is the GOP not applauding for tax cuts!?? They are literally not applauding for one single thing the President says, even if it was to rename our entire country The United States of Reagan. And they'd better be careful with that, because if they overplay their drunk-with-power-Scott-Brown-won hand, they are going to flame out Newt Gingrich-style. How do you NOT clap for new jobs? Tax breaks for US companies who keep jobs in America? That is dickitude in the extreme. You know they are all deathly afraid that their fearless leaders Rush and Glenn will play footage of "the clapping" on a loop to their mindless minions.<br /><br />Now he's back to health care, and he's playing it for all it's worth. "It's clear I didn't tackle health care because it was good politics..." He "will not walk away from it, and neither should the people in this chamber." "As temperatures cool, I want everyone to take another look at the plan we proposed...but if anyone from either party has a better plan to bring down premiums, cover the uninsured, stop insurance companies from taking away coverage, bring down the deficit, let me see it!...let's get it done." THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. Thank you. For that specifically, but also for frigging talking to me like I'm an adult with a brain.<br /><br />Now he's smacking the GOP with the facts on the deficit, ie, it was giant. "All this was before I walked in the door. Just stating facts." Again, thank you for pointing out that all these shmos now SOOO VERY concerned with the national debt and the deficit didn't seem so on fire about it under Bush while he was busy not paying for two wars.<br /><br />Now he's calling out the SCOTUS decision on corporate funding of campaigns. AS the BBDD says, "Man, that's bold! Calling them out while they're sitting right in front of you." Now he's calling for an earmark website to allow everyone to look and see what little treats are being stuck into bills before they're passed.<br /><br />Oh, now it's ON! He's discussing partisan rancor, calling for an end to the constant daily campaign where the only goal is to get the most embarrassing headline for the other party, where if you lose, I win. Campaigns happen, "but we still need to govern." To the Democrats: "The people expect us to govern, not run for the hills." To the GOP: "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership."<br /><br />And we just crossed the 60 minute mark! Dude is punishing them. I'm having a concurrent live status exchange on Facebook. It's so funny. All the Dems are loving it, the 'Pubs are scandalized, calling it 'partisan and hostile." Friends, your party has been nothing but partisan and hostile to this president since he took office. You wield the filibuster like a big stick, stopping the work of the American people in the Senate just because you can. You have obstructed every proposal put forth for no other reason that naked politics. So guess what? He now owes you nothing. Respect is earned and respect is mutual. Put on your big boy underpants and take it like the men (and women) you say you are. And hey--if Obama is full of crap, then no one in America will buy it and you'll be home free regardless.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-46370552821631941492010-01-26T21:44:00.005-05:002010-01-26T22:05:52.113-05:00Dirty Bits, Frogicide and--as always--HealthcareFirst, an article on the rather disgusting and environmentally-unsafe way in which the majority of the world's shrimp are farmed or harvested. The headline? Make sure you're eating only US-farmed shrimp. You don't want to know why. But if you do, here's the link: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/145369/shrimp's_dirty_secrets:_why_america's_favorite_seafood_is_a_health_and_environmental_nightmare">http://www.alternet.org/story/145369/shrimp's_dirty_secrets:_why_america's_favorite_seafood_is_a_health_and_environmental_nightmare</a><br /><br />Speaking of "disgusting," word on the street is that John Edwards has a sex tape. DO NOT WANT. Oh my god. That would just be the icing on the egotistical, megalomaniacal, amoral a**wipe of the cake that is John Edwards. As my old friend Kim from college would say, "He's got no kind of class." *Shudder* <a href="http://gawker.com/5456215/">http://gawker.com/5456215/</a><br /><br />Then, speaking of wanting to club someone, an article from Australia that nicely illustrates two things: 1. It's important not to import non-native species to your country, and 2. Should you need to annihilate an overgrown population of said non-native species, the government would prefer that you club them to death since that seems more humane than asphyxiation, thank you. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9651576">http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9651576</a><br /><br />And, finally, speaking of getting clubbed, here is evidence of the absolutely shite job the Dems did of selling the healthcare plan to America: Individual components of the plan are actually very popular. <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/is-health-care-reform-popular.html<br />">http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/01/is-health-care-reform-popular.html<br /></a>Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-13363359092582482332010-01-25T22:05:00.007-05:002010-01-25T22:42:14.818-05:00Facebook Needs Some Deuteronomy"If there will be a poor man among you... you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand toward your poor brother; you shall open your hand to him and shall give him enough for his needs."<br /><br />I think I'm going to make that my status update on Facebook in light of the disturbingly frequent status updates recently that go something like this: "America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won't have the guts to copy and repost this!!" OR "Where were all the telethons during Katrina?!" Then some shmo will leave a comment to the effect of, "I feel bad for Haiti, but we need to take care of our own first."<br /><br />Hello? Really? First of all, see "September 2005" for the answer to "where were all the telethons for Katrina," asswipe. They happened; you probably forgot because you didn't give to that effort either. But on a more important point, almost 200,000 humans dead, with scores injured, maimed, homeless and destitute in a truly shocking and devastating disaster--you're tallying whether they're worth help because they're not American? Those are the kind of balls one can only hope God finds a way to cut out from under you.<br /><br />Furthermore, the people who post these statements also tend to be the very same people who post anti-health care bill updates, or anti-public assistance updates or all manner of "let them eat cake" pontifications. But now that people are sending money to Haiti, all of a sudden they're concerned about America's poor and hungry children being ignored or America's veterans being homeless? You'll pardon me as I stifle my laughter, because that concern is simply not credible.<br /><br />Here's my take: you help people where they're hurting. Right now Haiti is where they need the most help. Doesn't mean Americans aren't important (good god, no! Americans not important?!), doesn't mean that all the daily challenges facing our nation's citizenry no longer exist. It just means that right now our neighbor's house is on fire and, even though we may not have enough to make the rent on our own house at the moment, we still need to call 911 and go help. Even if we've never met them. Even if they are different from us. Even if we kind of don't feel like it's that big a deal since, after all, our house is still intact. But who sees a woman come out after being buried in a building for 5 days--a woman whose daughter died next to her in that rubble just before rescue--and sees not one iota of herself in that fellow human's suffering? Who doesn't think that were the situations reversed, she'd be begging the world for help? <br /><br />Easing suffering is not a zero sum game.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-91465437227600277202010-01-21T23:13:00.002-05:002010-01-21T23:23:59.519-05:00Brown Was For It Before He Was Against ItInteresting to note that Scott Brown pledged to be the 41st vote against the health care bill, when he voted for an almost identical bill right here in Massachusetts in 2006: <br /><br />"Public hostility towards health reform certainly helped propel Brown to victory, but as economist Austin Frakt explains, “[t]he real lesson seems to be less about policy and far more about politics.” After all, Brown doesn’t make a very convincing messenger for opposing the policy behind health reform. As a state senator, Brown voted for Massachusetts 2006’s reform law which, like the Senate and House bills, includes an individual health insurance mandate, insurance exchanges, government affordability credits and insurance regulations. As a result of the law, 98% of Massachusetts residents have health insurance and 79% want the law to continue." <br /><br />Brown's opposition to the bill was based on voter anger at increasing premiums (the national bill, unlike the MA reform, included cost containments) and that MA would have to subsidize other states' reforms: "The Federal plan, taking a half trillion from Medicare, why would we go and subsidize the failure of other states – not only would we be paying for our plan, we’d be paying for everyone else." But here's the deal: MA received federal money to institute our health care reform; we couldn't have done it without that federal assistance. Which raises the question in some <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/21/brown-subsidized/">quarters</a> of whether he plans to return the federal money that he seems to so deplore.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-36222940500900068732010-01-21T22:51:00.003-05:002010-01-21T22:59:31.311-05:00Free Speech Means I Get To Say That......the majority opinion holders on the Supreme Court have made an un-American and deeply stupid decision today.<br /><br /><a href="http://slate.com/id/2242208">http://slate.com/id/2242208</a> Dahlia Lithwick nails it. I speak of her disbelief that the Supreme Court of the United States today decided that a corporation or a union is just like a person, entitled to "freedom of speech." <br /><br />Friends, this decision ought to give you nothing but bowel-lurchingly frightening visions. This is not a victory for free speech, assuming you even believe that money = speech or that Coca Cola = We The PEOPLE. This is an outright threat to our democracy, and let me tell you why: Multinational corporations are now free to influence United States elections. Did you hear that? Multinational corporations--some of which are owned by people living in and citizens of OTHER COUNTRIES--are now free to influence our elections.<br /><br />I'll have more to say later, but right now I'm just trying to digest that one effing scary result of this disastrous decision.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-36509525163163740512010-01-20T12:10:00.005-05:002010-01-20T14:27:51.736-05:00Brown Defeats Choakley<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVarlSDWdxrL6MPGD6u3kmrWupCht6JbAz-2LDbUMNIhyoqGWEwk0vtShYRCcBGx_FlLE9PwqgAZAyE1DkarZLeUa0de0p-nN4TvIH8Gg3cNWIS5pP7D2OmAgvqwDVYH1K3OZSg/s1600-h/scottbrownpicture.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVarlSDWdxrL6MPGD6u3kmrWupCht6JbAz-2LDbUMNIhyoqGWEwk0vtShYRCcBGx_FlLE9PwqgAZAyE1DkarZLeUa0de0p-nN4TvIH8Gg3cNWIS5pP7D2OmAgvqwDVYH1K3OZSg/s320/scottbrownpicture.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428874650669257186" /></a> My New Senator, God help us<br /><br />Nate Silver over at 538 has a decent piece of blame assignation for Coakley's loss: <a href="http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/01/lets-play-blame-game.html">fivethirtyeight.com</a><br /><br />I think he's pretty much right on. So what does all this mean? It means, not as our "friends" at the WSJ and Fox tell us, that Obama should do less. This is when Obama needs to grow a pair. Mitch McConnell says the election shows we're "tired" of Obama's agenda. Really? Eff You, Mitch. A member of a party that did ZERO for nine years to help the economy (and in fact, drove it into the ground) and to help ordinary Americans get health care? I don't think the President ought to be taking advice from you. President Obama's problem is that he has been too much of a consensus-builder. I mean, hello! Scott Brown's entire platform was that he was going to throw sand in the gears of "the Obama agenda." These people are not interested in finding a middle ground or a way forward. They are interested in Obama's failure. Why are we trying to work with them? Health care reform should have been passed by now, with or without the Republicans. <br /><br />President Obama, you need to do what you said you were going to do during your campaign. That's why we voted for you. Refocus on the economy and jobs. Do it, and then let the chips fall where they may.<br /><br />UPDATE: EJ Dionne says it better than I can: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/17/AR2010011701934.html">WaPo</a>Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-18317308791937026012010-01-15T14:11:00.003-05:002010-01-15T14:15:36.500-05:00Say What You Want About the President......but don't dis the dog.<br /><br />An interesting piece on Harry Reid, who apparently called GWB's dog Barney "fat" to the President's face. Them's fightin' words!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24reid-t.html?pagewanted=all">www.nytimes.com</a>Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-31984587953829534102010-01-15T13:49:00.005-05:002010-01-15T14:01:25.470-05:00It's a Toss UpWow. Who'd a thunkit? Martha Coakley in a tight, tight race against GOP candidate Scott Brown for the open MA Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy. Well, now that I think about it, anyone couldathunkit. Why? Because Martha Coakley has run the sh&ttiest campaign I've seen in a long time. It seems that they just transferred her low-key, let-the-voters-come-to-me primary strategy (which was a good one) to the general election, which was a giant error. You can't coast through a general election, even a special one such as this. Recall that not many years ago TK himself was in a fight for his political life against a GOP challenger. So to say that all Massachusetts seats are safe Dem seats is lazy thinking at best and election-losing at worst.<br /><br />Where has Coakley been? She's made snarky comments about "shaking hands outside Fenway Park" as if that's a waste of her time. Guess what? It IS a waste of her time in terms of trying to reach the maximum number of voters possible. But in terms of winning the "free media" race? The one where the news covers you shaking hands for 10 seconds and it gets played on a loop on all the newscasts? Time well-spent. And in our electoral system where the party in power routinely gets spanked in mid-term elections? Why this lady was not knocking on every damn door to get every damn vote is beyond me.<br /><br />Further, all her positive ads seem to have gone AWOL. Now the ads are all about Scott Brown, either for or against. Ads for Martha Coakley, featuring Martha Coakley? I haven't seen 'em. Where has Coakley been? The current Coakley ad is such sh*t I laugh every time I see it. It features her pleasant-but-all-business voice saying, "I'm Martha Coakley and I approved this message." Then it cuts randomly to that Deep Man Voice used in promos for films by Michael Bay saying essentially, "Scott Brown is a dangerous f*cking a*&hole." The quick shift in tone and voice is hilarious! Which is great if you're in comedy, bad if you're in politics.<br /><br />Obviously I'll be voting for Coakley, shite campaigner though she has been, simply because I cannot bear the thought of a major right-winger like Brown (who has done a fabulous job of appearing moderate) representing me. But if I voted on campaign performance alone? Brown would have to win.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038715.post-81062206541849577612010-01-15T13:37:00.003-05:002010-01-15T13:44:45.828-05:00365 Photos--Part Trois?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgEAKNrKtsGAbC9ppkOQY0vkPb6FC7HghODNGvV3FrtAD3sSd9opfJHJawTnim2C-OUcA5qLfFNONm0ImAlkTsoXKVZpRvRb97Jlcex72CkKxdfdzDp80YsNkyJsY4xdVLAIFcA/s1600-h/IMG_3864.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgEAKNrKtsGAbC9ppkOQY0vkPb6FC7HghODNGvV3FrtAD3sSd9opfJHJawTnim2C-OUcA5qLfFNONm0ImAlkTsoXKVZpRvRb97Jlcex72CkKxdfdzDp80YsNkyJsY4xdVLAIFcA/s320/IMG_3864.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427038119793471954" /></a><br />A construction worker at the Dana Farber Yawkey Center project. He's up pretty high and makin' it look easy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRnIOUSGFMC7Q8hQWRZfn_x9rTf5jm7BJasyxIJ-7qG6FG7I0U09D4b5R6QrV-FrM8H-rHvS5xJkNMOE0URoJkmxa-qRi9GbYDWbOcoInCebtml15QyDObfRM3bcTYGJzSmfQUQ/s1600-h/IMG_3858.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRnIOUSGFMC7Q8hQWRZfn_x9rTf5jm7BJasyxIJ-7qG6FG7I0U09D4b5R6QrV-FrM8H-rHvS5xJkNMOE0URoJkmxa-qRi9GbYDWbOcoInCebtml15QyDObfRM3bcTYGJzSmfQUQ/s320/IMG_3858.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427038111230538226" /></a><br />The supersecretdoubledogmagicgermfreehyperiffic doors to the Transplant Unit at Dana Farber. This was my first time back in that hallway since my transplant, first time walking on my own two feet. I was wheeled in a wee bit sedated if I recall from getting my central line inserted, and on the way out I was in a wheelchair, excited to see Bambina after a month, and completely terror-stricken to be leaving the safety and germ-freeness of the pod, so I barely remember it at all. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHzdEaPQO_IqEFEs8emgljbn16bQEb09o_8sQ-y1kwfEMv9zsA55N7HGOWF-98L4rT4Po2laURmudKuGzVK9PtnGdo7_a51b7uY1nBoGUPZdMAmo778rCqYgM6iPASf-oZZvrWw/s1600-h/IMG_3853.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHzdEaPQO_IqEFEs8emgljbn16bQEb09o_8sQ-y1kwfEMv9zsA55N7HGOWF-98L4rT4Po2laURmudKuGzVK9PtnGdo7_a51b7uY1nBoGUPZdMAmo778rCqYgM6iPASf-oZZvrWw/s320/IMG_3853.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427038104300067762" /></a><br />Um, that's not the parking spot. In fact, that's precisely where cars are supposed to drive between parking spots.Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17587216740731401718noreply@blogger.com0