The Lighter Side...

To counter my politics, preachy, theme heavy posts of late, here are some things I found funny and interesting today...

From npr.org: The Bryant Park Project

Simon Says: Google This

As Matt Martinez reported in The Most today, the number one search on Google Trends early this morning was the word "precocious." That's what "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell called a hapless hopeful, who will not be going to Hollywood. I guess he was referring to the fact that at the tender age of 16 she was attempting a Janis Joplin song. He didn't seem to mean it as a compliment, anyway.

But the singer didn't even know what "precocious" means, and apparently neither did a lot of viewers, who started typing the term into the ol' Googler to find out more.

My favorite thing about Google Trends is the "related searches" feature. Here's what people were typing as they tried to figure out what the heck Simon was talking about. People who clearly are not now and probably never have been precocious:

precautious, precoshus, precarious, precautions, define precocious


This is in reality not actually funny, it's a little sad but I still found it amusing.


And in honor of the Super Bowl being held in sunny Arizona this weekend (and the horrible traffic I experienced today in Old Town. Banners of P-Diddy on every corner, are you kidding me?!).
Go here and listen to In Fair Glendale, the Bard's Super Bowl Play. This made Ben and I laugh when we heard it in the car on our local NPR station.

A Woman's Right to Vote

"I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality. "
-Alice Paul

Ben and I had our favorite bull dykes - hereafter referred to as FBD's (this is a term of endearment, which they use themselves just for the record. It's an inside joke.) over for dinner a few nights ago. We love our FBD's for many reasons - they are our couple BFF's, our soulmates. One of the things we love the most is the stimulating conversation we always have. I'll admit we did spend about 20 minutes on Heath Ledger and who wore what to the SAG Awards, we can't help ourselves but we also had an amazing conversation regarding a woman's right to vote. I love knowing there are other women out there who are as passionate about their right to vote.

I am not sure where my love of voting comes from, my mother never voted that I know of and never instilled in me a sense of pride regarding this right but I do love it. I requested an early ballot this year and it has been sitting on the table for me to complete and mail in but I can't do it. I get so excited about going to the polls and showing my voter registration card. I am the dork who wears her "I voted today" sticker until it loses it's stickiness and falls off. Just thinking about it makes me teary.

I don't think that schools place enough emphasis on the history of the women's rights movement. If it weren't for my own research I wouldn't know about the women who fought and the sacrifices they made for the right to vote.

I received the information below in an e-mail like I usually do around election time but have decided to pass it on. While it's pretty graphic and the women mentioned are only a few of those who worked for women's rights, I find it inspiring.

How Women Earned the Right to Vote

A short history lesson on the privilege of voting...

The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic." They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Thus unfolded the "Night of Terror" on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

I know we are all busy with things that are just as important but I hope you think about these women come election day and the respect you feel for them will hopefully move you to vote.

AMENDMENT XIX

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation.

Ratified August 26, 1920

I promise this will be my last post on politics for a while. I am afraid they may be getting annoying. I am looking forward to voting on Tuesday and even more excited about staying up all night watching the returns. I am a junkie.

Rock the Vote!

Politics

http://glassbooth.org/Result/index/825805/dcb8d34bfa7d3bfdb3d7f781266644d7

I got this website from an old high school friends blog. I decided to take the test even though I am at this time absolutely decided on my candidate for 2008. Go Barack!

I was not surprised to see that the test most closely aligns me with Dennis Kucinich. I am a proud, out of the closet liberal! :)

MLK Day

A little late but it seems like the holiday passed with barely a mention. I didn't see anything on the news, most people had to work. Arizona was one of the last states to recognize Martin Luther King day and did so only after the NFL boycotted Tempe as a location for the super bowl. It all boils down to consumerism but at least we finally recognize an incredible man with an honor that is well deserved.

I stole this video from Lex but I know she won't mind. As always I find Barack to be incredibly honest and passionate.



I posted Kings famous "I Have A Dream Speech" below but I also think his anti-war speeches are very relevant today. See them on youtube.




If you have a little free time, watch both videos above and hopefully find some inspiration in them.


On April 4th, 1968 our country truly lost a King.

Delegate Count

Obsession

I love beautiful clothes. It borders on obsession and drives Ben crazy but I just can't help it. Last night on Project Runway this dress almost gave me a heart attack. So high fashion but I want it! Where on earth would I wear a dress like that? Nowhere, I would just hang out around the house in it.

Why choose Portland?

It's always the first question when I tell people I'm moving so, here are just a few reasons.

Environmental Awareness: The picture (from npr.org) is a view of Portland traffic from a bike commuter. According to Bicycling Magazine, Portland has the highest number of bike commuters in the country. Portland also has an efficient, cheap public transportation system made up of light rail, an extensive bus network and the downtown street car system. We are about to become a one vehicle family. Yay! Combine this with the city's recycling and soon to begin composting programs, the many excellent vegetarian and vegan restaurant choices and we are happy people.

-Domestic Partner Benefits: From basicrights.com "More than 1,500 Oregonians in seven cities turned out on a dark and rainy night to share their outrage and frustration with the delay in Oregon’s domestic partnership law - and to express solidarity with the hundreds of families who are urgently depending on the law."

The new domestic partner law should have gone into effect in January but has been held up in court (for the moment). Still, it makes me proud to be moving to a city where more people show up in support of the law than in opposition. Apparently, the group that has managed to get the passage of the law tied up in the courts is based out of Arizona. Of course.

-Dust: Or the lack of anyway. Finally I will be able to wear my contacts witout feeling like there are microscopic shards of glass in my eyes.

-Ben's kick-ass family. There are no words to describe how excited we are to be living near them.

Now this is not to say that there are not things we will miss about Arizona. Most of my family is here along with a great group of friends (some who will thankfully be following us to Portland).

We know everyone will be coming to visit us soon in our new home...right?

A New Year = Adventure

Finally a few moments of peace. The holidays were crazy, CRAZY! Then after the new year we were off to Portland for a week of vacation. I returned to work only to find that I had been laid off. Now I find myself with an inordinate amount of spare time, a direct result of my current unemployed status. (the mortgage industry, ugh).

Since I am not working Ben and I will be headed for Portland permanently at the end of February. We are scared and nervous but unbelievably excited for the adventures we know are ahead. We will be living with Ben's ridiculously kind sister until we find a place of our own. Picture 4 adults, one kindergartner, 3 dogs and a cat all living in close quarters. AWESOME!! It will be excellent material for blogs to come I'm sure.

For the next 6 weeks I have decided to forgo a job in lieu of doing all the things I want to do but never have time for like:
Reading:
One of my resolutions this year was to read more, at least 2 books a week which I used to do regularly but somehow tapered off last year to about a book a month. I am halfway through one of the most amazing books I have ever read (and I've read a lot of books). The fact that I can say it is amazing and I am only halfway through on it's own says something. So, anyone reading this blog should run to their local library and check out Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran -Foer. You will laugh out loud, you will be moved to tears, you will ache with sadness (in a good way) and that's just the first chapter. The story of a young boy who loses his father on 9/11, it may sounds sappy and cheesy but believe me it is not.
Exercise:
I started a Bikram Yoga 30 day challenge last week. 90 minutes of the most intense exercise ever, every day for 30 days. After a class it takes about 2 hours to fully gain my motor skills back but the sense of accomplishment after completing a class is amazing. Yoga makes me happy.
Volunteering:
I always say I am going to volunteer, for the ACLU, political campaigns, etc. So with the next 6 weeks free I will be working at least 2 days a week at the Obama HQ downtown. To sum up how I feel about Barack, just read this quote from Gary Lamb, former president of the Iowa Farmers Union, "Every time we are in our darkest hour a leader emerges who inspires us, brings us together, and has the creativity to solve our problems. During the Great Depression, it was FDR. At the height of the Cold War, it was JFK Now, we face another dark hour where we are at peril, and we need a leader of integrity and courage who can restore respect and dignity to this great nation and truly create a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. And that leader is Sen. Barack Obama."
I love that quote, so on that note, I will call it a day.
To all my friends (especially the women), register to vote if you are not already. Your politics may not agree with mine but I still hope you will get out and vote in both the primary and general elections. Get involved!