Moxie

Steam

Remember back when South Park was cool and everyone walked around saying "I. Am. So. Pissed. Off" like Cartman? I'm having one of those days.

Spokesmodel Bush just announced that he'll support an amendment banning same-sex marriage (Note to W: Amendments banning things have a history of being repealed. Ask the genii behind Prohibition.) and I wish I could really care. But I don't, because a) I don't think it'll happen (let me have this dream, even if it turns out to be false), but mainly b) THERE ARE TOO MANY OTHER THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT.

conservative media

There. I said it. The media is conservative. We have a conservative media in this country. And they play up Janet Jackson's boobs and boobs who oppose same-sex marriage to distract us from the fact that it's been a year since we went into Iraq and Americans are still dying (not to mention Iraqis, but I guess we're not supposed to think about them). And that the economy is still in the tanker. And that Al-Queda is using Viet, er, I mean Iraq to mobilize Muslims against the U.S. and whip them into fundamentalist frenzy. And that Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ is whipping fundamentalists in this country into a frenzy. And that the effing governator of California thinks he can be president of the U.S. some day.

Thank goodness for Stonyfield Farms' Dark Chocolate ice cream.

An Open Letter to Ralph Nader

Dear Ralph Nader,

How dare you? How dare you do this to us one more time? All of us who work hard for our communities and try to raise our children to be responsible citizens. You gave us W and Cheney and Karl Rove.

If you are truly an American patriot, you will not run. You will step aside and swallow your pride and your idealism and put all your support behind the Democratic candidate. Because if the Democratic candidate does not win this time, your rights and freedoms will be curtailed even more in the next four years than they were in these past 3 1/2.

It's time to grow up and face the reality that this country is in a precarious position, and your running for president only makes America's prospects worse. Do not become Lyndon Larouche. Keep what remains of your dignity and DO NOT RUN.

Sincerely,

A Concerned American Mother

Hello, Dolly

El Chico has a teddy bear that he loves to sleep with. He used to call it "bear," but then a few weeks ago we were with his friend L. who has a doll (one of the Groovy Girls) that she can't be without. Her doll's name is, unsurprisingly, Dolly. The day after we saw L. and Dolly last, El Chico announced to me that his bear was his "dolly." When I asked what his dolly's name was, he said "Dolly name Bear." So I guess his dolly's name is Bear.

Yesterday he decided to nurse his dolly. So there sits my bruiser of a son in his hand-me-down football jersey, wearing a strand of the mardi gras beads my mom gave him, nursing his "dolly," with a matchbox car in his pocket.

I am going to be so sad when he starts to figure out this gender segregation and stereotyping. We were with a 5-year-old boy last week who wouldn't color with a pink crayon because "pink is a girl color!" So sometime between 2 and 5 he'll lose this happy blindness to what he should and shouldn't do. Too bad I can't just stop time.

Kicked in the Head

Every night El Chico sleeps in his crib until 5 or 6 am, at which point he calls for me and I bring him in with us. Usually he nurses and goes right back to sleep until 8 or so. But last night instead of falling asleep, he started flipping and flopping. He flipped upside-down and actually started kicking me in the head. I guess it's better than having him kick me in the gut with smooth betrayal, but only marginally.

Being kicked in the head while you should be asleep does not put you in a good mood. Granted, it was probably my fault for keeping El Chico out too late at a friend's book reading. And plying him with the super-sweet hot chocolate at the bookstore to get him to stay in the stroller. But still. It's my head.

On the up side, we're going to another birthday party today. When I told El Chico, he said, "Cake!" He's really starting to uinderstand the birthday drill.

"I am back!"

So El Chico (who will be 2 in a few weeks) is now speaking in complete, grammatically correct sentences. He just came in from having his diaper changed by El Grande yelling "I am back!" Yesterday, when they came in from for lunch he said, "I was outside, Mama." And last week at a friends' house when he woke up from his nap, he said to his friend, "I was sleeping, Connor."

The only problem with this is that he's lapping the characters on Sesame Street. He's already better at pronouncing words than that Brother Bear kid is (what's up with the new muppets?), and he's zooming past Grover in the grammar department. Elmo? Fuggedaboudit.

An Open Letter to Verizon

I hate you. I hate your land-line "service" and I hate Verizon Wireless. I hate you for consistently overcharging us, month after month after month. I hate you for giving us the runaround when we call to ask you to credit our account with the amount you've overcharged us. I hate that you send a bill and then 10 days later send us a nasty letter saying you're going to disconnect our phone for non-payment of the bill you sent us 10 days earlier. I hate that when I call to ask what that's about your customer reps give me attitude. I hate that when I walk through the freezing wind to make a payment at the Official Verizon Payment Center it says that the payment will be credited to my account instantly, but then your service reps say, "I don't know why it would say that, but I don't see it posted for 3-5 days when you make a payment there."

What gives?

Are you trying to make me crazy?

New project: research local phone service providers and switch ASAP.

Something Beautiful

If you want to see something beautiful that will make you cry, take a look at all the weddings in San Francisco last weekend.

Congratulations and best wishes to everyone who got married. May you have long, happy lives together.

Ode to February

Underrated month, like a geode.
Grey, crusty, and cold on the outside,
crystalline and sparkly violet on the inside.
What lurks around the corner of each morning?
Sleet or sun? Groundhogs or chocolate?
Last chance for inertia before Spring Cleaning.
Savor it while it lasts.