Jun 16th, 09
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One of our favorite preschool teachers had her last day at school on Friday, and was heading home to Iran to visit. I was worried that she might have been caught up all the chaos that Tehran has been experiencing since Saturday, so I called her to leave a message.
Fortunately, she has not left the states yet, so I was able to talk with her. She said that due to the forced cell phone outages, she was not able to get through to her parents for three days to make sure they were safe (they are). She said she is not worried about returning home during a potential revolution, as she participated in demonstrations and events previously, so it’s not that scary to her. Cell phone calls are being limited to five minutes.
When I asked for her perception of the government corruption that is being exposed during this election cycle, she said that the election results were announced a mere two hours after the polls closed, and that the ballots had all been hand-written; there was no way all the votes could have been counted! One of the candidates was announced to have zero votes in his favor, which that candidate immediately protested because he knows that he voted for himself!
One other sign of blantant corruption: she said the “election results” were forwarded to an “official” source, saying “this is what we are going to announce” even before the votes could have been counted.
Iranian protesters are hoping the U.N. will step in to help, but she had no idea if or when that would happen.
Another friend alerted me that the best way to stay tuned to what’s really happening is to monitor Twitter feeds coming out of Iran (search on #iranelection). The pictures and stories I’ve seen pouring out of that country are quite astonishing. I also applaud YouTube for leaving up videos uploaded by protesters in an attempt to preserve “their documentary value.”
While it remains unclear if this situation will turn into the political revolution many have hoped for, I do pray for our friend’s safety and for those that seek a true reporting of the actual election results.
Feb 3rd, 09
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I just went outside in the dark with a flashlight to inspect all our car tires.
What would cause me to do this? A 20/20 report alerting drivers to the danger of driving on tires older than six years of age. While you might remember exactly when you bought the tires (or purchased the car new), you won’t know exactly when the tires were manufactured.
I was surprised that our 2005 Prius’s tires had four different manufacture dates– one of which was six months AFTER we bought the car new. Did the dealer swap it out during a routine service? We’ll probably never know.
You can easily determine your tire’s age.
While were on the topic, please also make a point of checking your tires’ inflation. My Mom is one smart cookie; she always taught me to check tire pressure on cold tires, and to always make sure the inflation was correct for the vehicle requirements and tire specs. Mom knows best!
I hope you find this information as useful as I did.
Jan 19th, 09
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“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” – Dr. Martin Luther King
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For the longest time, year heaped upon everlasting year, I have waited for 12:36 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20. This marks the time when our current President and his wife will be escorted from the East plaza in a helicopter. I view it as the much-anticipated ending to a unconscionable era in our country’s journey.
As much as I have anticipated Mr. Bush’s exit, once Barack Obama became our President-elect, I have even more eagerly awaited his inauguration at 11:56 a.m.
I believe he is the most qualified candidate for what has always been one of the hardest public service jobs around. However, given what he faces, the job promises to be monumentally more rigorous and challenging.
I have waiting eight long, painful years for this day. I am equally willing to extend my patience for this incredible new President-elect. I have faith in his competence, perseverance, and overwhelming intelligence. I believe he is uniquely able to help bring this country back from the brink of the oblivion.
I do not expect an overnight miracle. After all, it took nearly a decade to get into this recession, and almost as long to become permanently entrenched in a war that simultaneously grotesquely eroded the American image in eyes of the International community.
All I ask for is a best effort, and patience from the media. I think that for Obama, his best effort will be astounding, amazing, and totally worth the wait.
Nov 4th, 08
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I took Miracle Girl with me to vote today. She was just as eager as I was to be a part of the process.
Her teacher led a month-long unit to teach the children about all the ways people can vote, and I could not be more thrilled with how relevant it was to the real election. The mock election today was Kit Kat vs. Hershey bars, and they won’t learn the results for another day or two (just like real life)!
On one of my classroom work days, the class made a Venn diagram of the candy candidate’s attributes, showing how much they had in common and what they differed on. When the teacher asked the class if the real-life presidential candidates might have a lot in common, just as the candy candidates do, one little boy blurted out a not-very-flattering comment about McC@in (“You can’t trust McC@in, he’s a liar. He lies about everything!”). Yes, this was from the mouth of a six year old. Be assured that they hear EVERYTHING, and are very likely to repeat it. The teacher navigated deftly away from his comment, but it made my eyes goggle. (I have to say: I have a lot of respect for McC@in with the concession speech he gave tonight.)
Today, MG asked me who I was voting for, and why? I quietly described what I was voting for (or against), and whispered that it’s something we talk about in private, since we vote by secret ballot.
She proudly displayed her “I voted” sticker, as well as the one she handmade today in school. After seven years of mostly feeling ashamed of the negative American image developing internationally and frustrated by the trends developing year by year, today I am very hopeful for the future and proud to be an American.
Aug 18th, 08
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I rarely get political here, but just have to share this hilarious site: LOL Bush
It is in the style of LOL Cats, which is a site that used to mostly annoy me, but in this context I found the style amusing. Upon revisiting LOL Cats, I found a couple pictures with captions that made me laugh this time.
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Part of an extended team at work is based in a software lab in China, and I was told today by a co-worker that he wasn’t sure he would get a response for me from them any time soon because they were all watching the Olympics. Seriously?! My reply: I wish *I* could watch the Olympics instead of do my job!
Jun 15th, 08
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We are experiencing our second set of wildfires in the nearby Santa Cruz mountains. The first happened over Memorial Day weekend. It was jaw-dropping to see dozens of fire crew trucks and bulldozers being towed up Interstate 5 and over the 152 summit towards the Cal Fire base near Gilroy. We were lucky to be away during most of that episode; not so this time.
Yesterday afternoon the skies filled with brown clouds, and the air was tinged orange. It was totally wild as we went out to dinner to celebrate my Miracle Girl's last day of kindergarten. The sun appeared as circular blaze of burnt umber light filtering through a thick dark haze of clouds– just like a solar eclipse but we still had daylight!
During our meal, we learned that another fire has been burning in the mountains at Bonny Doon, causing the very surreal skies. I tried to capture the weird air quality it created, more or less successfully.
The roses are actually a deep red color, but the light allowed such a limited spectrum of color it altered everything to shades of orange. Even the leaves nearly glowed. As I looked around, I felt like I was wearing tinted sunglasses that completely obscured most colors as I was accustomed to seeing them.
Our baby peaches are actually very green still, though they appear riper than actuality here.
Today, ash has been raining around us and our cars are covered in a fine film of ash flakes. Air quality sucks, and given how dry the hills are already, I think we are in for a hellacious fire season this summer.
Feb 7th, 08
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The condo sale went through eerily free of any problems, and it closed a day early to boot! We have both felt a little sad, as it was our first “home” and we LOVED every aspect of that place and its proximity to many of the outings we enjoyed doing as a family. But we are more than grateful to be moving on.
Happy Chinese New Year! According to the Chinese zodiac, my husband is a monkey. My daughter is a horse and my son is a dog, which I find hilarious because each of those animals happens to be their respective favorite. And me? Well, apparently, I’m a pig.
What is your Chinese zodiac sign? Does your zodiac animal definition reverberate with you?
Aug 3rd, 07
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I barely have words for this “news” (infertile friends, please avert your eyes now)…
Mama Duggar and Billy Jo Jim Bob have added baby #17 to their brood. Can you imagine 17 children, all with names starting with J? And they “would love more”?? [Edited to add:] It just occurred to me that they have enough family members to field two entire teams for baseball– 9 for each side, plus an extra (pitcher, maybe).
Un-freaking-believable. I know I’d love to try for another (am I really ready for more failure?), but SEVENTEEN? If you could have that many children, would you want to? Am I just being snarky for no good reason?
Apr 18th, 06
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You can blame me. You know, for all the rain we’ve had in the Bay Area the past two months. Every drop, it’s my bad.
And here you might have been thinking it was all the fault of that cute little burrow dweller in Pennsylvania.
Nope, ’twas moi. I was discussing the weather with my acupuncturist in early March, during our record heat wave. He is truly a displaced Southern California boy because he was totally ecstatic about the suddenly hot weather and the fact that he hateshateshates rain.
I admitted that I passionately love all the rain and cooler weather. I love the fresh clean air, and how vividly green nature is after each cleansing downpour. Each winter, I can’t help but think of how very badly our state reservoirs need replenishing after five years of successively lower rainfall. Seeing the San Luis Reservoir’s water level drop every year by 10 feet or more, and seeing much steeper, barren shorelines at Lake Britton make me sad. I said I wished the rain would return for a good long time.
I know only one other person who loves the rain as much as I do, and I’m aware that we are vastly in the minority here. At least my therapist was able to quickly rule out Seasonal Affective Disorder as a possible contributor to my rock-bottom state last month! And I’m one of very few mothers who actually lets her child go out in the pouring rain to stomp and slosh about in the biggest puddles and get insanely muddy. I figure: we wash; our clothes wash; germs get people sick, not cold weather. Why not?
So, yeah, if the rain comes back, I won’t be upset; quite the opposite. Though I might need to wear protective gear to shield me from the all the rocks, stones and disgruntles stares of my comrades!
On second thought, maybe I should just blame it on that groundhog….
Apr 18th, 06
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Isn’t life funny sometimes? Not necessarily funny “ha ha” but funny as in curious, intriguing, or improbable?
Katie Holmes delivered her baby on the same day as Brooke Shields. God forbid Katie ever experience post-partum depression while she’s with that freak… um, I mean, Tom Cruise. I will always wonder if their baby is a product of IVF? Not that it matters; I just hope mother and baby are both doing well and that they thrive despite the father’s overwhelmingly unique qualities and beliefs.
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While I’m at it, have you seen the news about the man-hunter’s, errr, Dick Cheney’s tax return? This just chaps my hide. Not that I wouldn’t love to be in a position to actually make enough money to pay those kind of taxes (or get that super-sized refund), but still…. Can you say “Halliburton“? I knew you could!
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And by the way, I have tried yet again to reconfigure this site’s security to allow y’all to add comments. Please give it a shot, and if your comment is still bounced, drop me a note at the email address over thataway —> (and if you can, please include the text of the error message). Thank yew!
