Julie Pippert: Using My Words

Recently we took a little trip. We get the joneses fairly regularly where we feel the need to travel. Ages ago, pre-parenting, we used to hop planes and go all sorts of wild places. Because we could. Once upon a time I took a job just because they offered me free air travel anywhere, any time. Every Friday we'd pack a bag and take it to the office. I'd call my husband around 4:30 and say, "This weekend let's go mountainous!" or "How about fabulous Chinese in San Fran's Chinatown for dinner tonight?" Living in the northeast was great because so many fantastic places were so close, either by car or train. The high speed train was awesome. We could hit NYC enough that we got to know neighborhoods, and had their subway system as memorized as our own. Even Canada wasn't exempt, especially when I had to commute to work in Toronto. Later my husband worked abroad and we commuted between Europe and the US---well, he commuted. I took a lot of vacation time...

I'm sorry...I know this is unreadable, but after grappling for a couple of days with this comic, trying to get it to show properly, I have conceded defeat. Bones, thanks for the effort and help and sorry. If you click on the comic---try using "open in new tab" if you have that option---you can see the original, or click this link to go to the source, if you are at all interested, LOL. Marc Rudov's article, "Is Your Son Safe at College?" is a laughably paranoid and disturbingly bitter account of the precautions and fear young men at universities---which he calls gynoversities due to their "inherent bias towards women and against men" evident through their "big rape shield"---ought to employ to protect themselves against women, who are described by Rudov as so sexually predatory and insecure that any woman at any time might cry rape merely to extricate herself from an uncomfortable or inconvenient sexual encounter. Rudov is clearly a pro...

Pope Benedict succeeded in rallying the troops to assail Rome in protest of Italian legislation to provide rights to unmarried but committed couples, including homosexual couples. The 1.5 million people who packed into St. John Lateran piazza exceeded Catholic hopes that 100,000 would come to support the Pope's protest of the legislation. "Living together is not family," said Anna Manara, 58. "A commitment such as marriage cements the bond, while other models make it easier to be together and therefore end up making it less valuable." Here we are again: your life makes a statement about my life. I live a traditional life. I'm heterosexual, am married to my husband, live in the suburbs, and have two children and two cars. Oh, and we're white. What do I know of bigotry? I confess: I haven't walked a mile in shoes that face true prejudice (outside of a few incidents due to my gender). However, I can understand and sympathize. Also, I don't think th...

March is absolutely the most glorious month of the year here. Everything blooms gorgeously. The rich green lushness of the semi-tropics is in full splendor: vibrant and vivid specimens of exotic flora twine together with more tranquil and traditional blooms. Oak and palm trees grow side by side. Spanish moss drapes both, equally. This is a unique and wonderful place in many ways. So many cultures and traditions blend together as a pretty patchwork, much like the landscape. Sip a margarita while eating a po' boy, then have apple pie for dessert. Everything is written in at least two languages. Welcome! Bienvenido! In March, the weather is usually as good as it can ever get anywhere: sunny and 65-75. People practically skip down the streets in joy. In March, you are ready and willing to enjoy these temperatures, whereas in February you might have grumbled a bit, still liking a hint of cool, of winter. In March, you are happy to be reunited with flip flops and appreciate the ease of s...

In good news... Chad signs deal to demobilise child soldiers ...at a "Free Children from War" conference organised by UNICEF in France in February, African governments including Chad said they would try to rid their countries of underage fighters. In other good news... Please make sure to take a little time---if you haven't yet---and visit the roundtable participants. The marvelous contributors are: Kaliroz wrote Cold, Broken Hallelujah Slouching Mom wrote Port Authority: The 1970's After the Ball wrote Practice What You Preach Also, for those of you who are not in a place this week to participate and who requested an extension: granted! I'll extend this topic. Take your time. Just send me a link when you finish and I'll add it in to this post. In more good news... It's time for the April Just posts. Check them out at either Mad's or Jen's spots. There are some really, truly fantastic ones. As usual, but I really mean it. :) copyright 2007 Julie ...

It's long. I know. Too long. And the quotes---which are carefully chosen from Moby Dick and Melville's writings, and which elegantly, metaphorically represent my feelings and thoughts---are long, too. But...it is my honest response to the question of the journey, and I guess my journey has been fairly long so far. I can't tell which bit to cut. So perhaps I can count on you to be patient? And give me more of your time than maybe I can reasonably expect? Thanks. The links to the other roundtable participants are below, at the end of this post. "All men live enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever present perils of life." Herman Melville, Moby Dick “Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and ...

A simple toothache can be fatal. That is the sobering message a 12-year-old Maryland boy left when, after his dental problems went untreated, he succumbed to a severe brain infection. Deamonte Driver's life could have been spared if his infected tooth was simply removed -- a procedure costing just $80. However, the Driver family faced obstacles with Medicaid, poverty, and access to resources, resulting in an easily preventable health problem turning deadly. Source: Toothache Leads to Boy's Death at abcnews.com I think by now we've all heard this tragic story. We're all saddened, perplexed, and outraged. At least, I hope we all are. This is a devastating and completely avoidable tragedy. We should feel grief, and outrage. And, as usual, the first people to step up and loudly start talking about reform are...politicians. And, as usual, we are all looking to the politicians to fix the problem. Through legislation. As if we are tittle tattlers in kindergarten running to t...

The basic fact is that all sentient beings, particularly human beings, want happiness and do not want pain and suffering. Dalai Lama (14th) Kim and Gwen solved the Hump Day Hmmm Roundtable dilemma beautifully. Kim said, "...instead of what we should do, what about writing about personal experiences of how we have or how we are trying-where in the journey." Gwen agreed with that plan, "I like k's idea of writing about personal experiences in re: compassion and tolerance. I have Big Idea fatigue." I had initially thought we should follow the path of free will and destiny for discussion, but then felt moved by the Dalai Lama's words about compassion and tolerance, as well as his call to action. But I was ambivalent, I think because, as Gwen said, I am also suffering from a case of idea fatigue. Although in my case, it is more idealism fatigue. I'd hoped the roundtable would renew and rekindle, but I think right now I've mostly just got anger and fati...

My feathery friend, do not treat me fowl! I know...I know: what a random assortment this post is! So I'll get right to it. Kodachrome When I think back On all the crap I learned in high school It's a wonder I can think at all So Patience and I got caught up in the Science Channel the other day. We'd intended to tune in just to learn a little more about what-where-when about Space Week (starts next week). Patience has decided to become an astronaut so she can go into space and do experiments and explore. This is actually the ideal career choice for her so far. It's no stretch at all for me to picture her performing a necropsy on a gecko to observe the effects of zero gravity on the lizard after three months in space. This is why I am sending her to Space Camp this summer. She'll build and launch rockets, and build a scale model of our solar system. I wonder if it will contain Pluto. Which brings me to the trouble with science and education. Everything I learned in sc...

Caught white handed. Every day I vacuum the hard floors downstairs. With two Big Personality kids (I cite the photo displayed as evidence), multiple pets, and the way traffic flows here, it's necessary. Plus, I like vacuuming. I call it my Zen time. The white noise soothes me and focuses part of my brain---the anxiety part that requires some level of tune-out-able noise all the time---so the rest of it can think peacefully. The noise isn't so soothing to the rest of the family: children and pets hustle and hide until I put the vacuum away. In fact, the mere mention of cleaning causes my entire family to scatter like dandelions. Now you know my diabolical plan for alone time. One morning, I was vacuuming along and decided to do a bit upstairs as well. I chose the kids' playroom. As I began, I remembered I'd been meaning to vacuum my own room, especially over by the dog bed (it's allergy season so best to keep things as dust, dirt and pet dander free as possible, espe...

Every day I have a method, a routine, to my housecleaning: get the downstairs into good shape and hope I have time for a little tidy up for the upstairs. I vacuum the hard floors downstairs every day. With two kids, multiple pets, and the way traffic flows here, it's necessary. Plus, I say I like vacuuming. I call it my Zen time. The white noise soothes me and focuses part of my brain---the anxiety part I think, the part that requires some level of tune-out-able noise all the time---so the rest of it can think, peacefully. The noise isn't so soothing to the rest of the family: children and pets scatter and hide until I put the vacuum away. Now you know my diabolical plan for alone time. On one morning, I was humming along, doing my usual routine---cleaning the downstairs bathroom as it happens---when it struck me: I need to clean my own bathroom. My immediate next thought was, "Oh but the guest bath, the one guests see, is so much more important. And wow, the kids' bat...