Another long week almost over, and for those of us in DC, a forecast of warm sunny weather all weekend long. I’m excited to check out Yoga on the Mall tomorrow for the first time (kicking off DC’s annual Week of Yoga, wherein yoga studios all over the city offer free and $5 classes. Pretty sweet). In honor of the apparent turn to summer, here’s a poem about one of the summeriest things I know of. I hope you all have a great, relaxing weekend. Sunflower by Frank Steele You’re expected to see only the top, where...
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Let them kiss, for chrissakes?
The Daily Wh.at: Worthy Cause of the Day: Not a single episode of ABC’s uproarious new sitcom Modern Family goes by that I don’t find myself ranting and raving over the pseudo-progressivism of having an openly gay couple on a primetime TV show, and going out of your way to avoid having them show real-world physical affection toward one another. Happily, I am not alone in my diatribe: A Facebook campaign was recently launched to convince ABC to let the adorable duo smooch to their hearts’ content on national television. It may not seem like a big...
Continue reading...Ross Douthat Suuuuucks.
It will surprise no one to hear that Ross Douthat makes me mad. He makes me mad because his views are stupid, and because he doesn’t seem to believe in things like “data” or “facts,” and he also makes me real mad at the NYT Op-Ed page for hiring him in the first place. As Amanda Marcotte aptly points out in her takedown of Douthat’s column yesterday, his writing typically concludes with a take-home message “so factually incorrect that the newspaper ought to run the correction alongside it.” Marcotte and Rachael Larimore are currently hashing out the...
Continue reading...ConDems?
The insanity that has been the last week of British politics looks to be coming to an end. Somehow a coalition made up of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives will be ruling Britain (at the pleasure of the Queen, of course.) The Tories did go further than I imagined they would to make this deal happen, a referendum on AV and several cabinet posts to name a few. It seems Nick Clegg will be deputy PM, with other Senior Lib-Dems, including Danny Alexander and Vince Cable, in important roles. Yet, I’m unclear as to how this...
Continue reading...First Thoughts on the Kagan Nom
I’m alarmed by the precedent that a Democratic nominee for Supreme Court cannot have a record on abortion. Elena Kagan doesn’t have a record on much in the way of any controversial issues, but neither she nor Justice Sotomayor had any obvious pro-choice skeletons in the closet. which is disturbing because — “skeletons in the closet”?? Abortion is still a legal medical procedure. The fact that Diane Wood voted consistently to uphold this constitutionally protected right should never have disqualified her, and yet it seems pretty clear that that’s what made her unpalatable. Plus, the nomination confirms...
Continue reading...Doctor Who, "The Time of Angels"
The Doctor: “The writing. The graffiti. Old High Gallifreyan! The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days—there were many days—these words could burn stars, and raise up empires, and topple gods.” Amy: “What does this say?” The Doctor: “‘Hello, Sweetie.’” Well, that was perhaps the best intro to a Doctor Who episode that I’ve ever seen. From the first moment she’s onscreen, River Song is clearly a brilliant, fearless woman who can hold her own against the Doctor. I’m sure even those who had never seen “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” were intrigued...
Continue reading...Wait, people can vote in a monarchy?
So, I’ll be out for the next several hours, but will leave thoughts later. Exit polls seem to indicate a drop in Lib-Dem seats. I don’t buy this, uniform swings, postal votes, etc… They may not be getting the gains many hoped for, but I can’t believe they’re not gonna pick up a few. Anyway, you should be following 538’s liveblog and listening to BBC Radio 4. Or just pick up a paper tomorrow. Either way.
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
Guys, I don’t know about you, but for me it has been a long week, in a number of ways, not all of them bad. Nevertheless, I have been ready since about Tuesday for this week to be over. Here’s what cheered me up today: a mid-afternoon break to walk over to a nearby farmers’ market with my friend from work. We ranted and soapboxed for a while about our various gripes, and then we made our way to the best of the three bakery stands, where the endearing and flirtatious Bakery Man (who recognized me from...
Continue reading...Are you in Boston? See this.
Ivy: “We’re all just people, some of us accidentally connected by genetics, a random selection of cells. Nothing more.” Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County, which won the Tony for Best Play in 2008, is currently playing at Boston’s Colonial Theatre. The play centers around the Weston family, who come together when their patriarch, Beverly, goes missing. The matriarch, Violet, is played by Estelle Parsons (who is 82 years old, please note) and she is fantastic. Violet is addicted to prescription drugs and is barely coherent in several scenes, slurring her words and stumbling around the house. A...
Continue reading..."Honestly, I’ve been having sex for a while now, and it took me a long time to be 'totally comfortable' with it."
(title quote from Amanda Hess, link to article below) So partly because I work in the women’s health world, and partly because I just find the subject fascinating, I think about sex education a fair amount. Mostly I think about how much the sex ed I had, freshman year of high school, sucked. It just sucked. I went to a public, suburban high school, and even at age fifteen I was completely dismayed at the overt religious overtones of the “education” we received in this area. Here are 3 highlights: Skit: Two volunteer students stand on a...
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