Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Been busy
So, I've been really busy with work and baby prep. My research has hit a small snag, but I'm getting close to finding the error. In fact, I think that the error occurs at the limits of our code, where we can't run the simulations anymore anyway, so that makes sense. But I have to triple check to be sure. Damn coding. Baby stuff is going well. We put up the crib and by way of necessities we have basically everything except the car seat. Baby is head down and big, but the doctor said there's no imminent risk of labor, but I could have him anywhere from two weeks to seven weeks from now. The baby shower prep is in high gear. Poor JB and Li'l B. It came as a shock that it needed to happen so soon, just in case. Hopefully JB and JG will be in town when the baby's born. Now watch, just because we're ready early, he's going to back off and wait to be born. ;) Whatever he needs to be healthy is what I want, but I'm sure tired of walking around being tired and having elephant feet and numb hands. Oh, well. He's so worth it. It's nice too that I'm rarely alone. With Mama and Husband around, they help me a lot and make sure I rest. Otherwise, I'd be too stressed and not as healthy. Husband makes sure I get enough fruit and massages, and Mama takes care of the meat and veggies. :)
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Football
WE WON!
WE WON!
WE WON... WE WON... WE WON!
We won we won we won we won we won
wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon
wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon
wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon
Well, we won last night, and I'm only a little pleased. Not very excited at all.
Okay, I lied. I'm thrilled... over the moon... ecstatic... so excited I can't breathe. You get the idea. But my excitement is a bit tempered by our past performance and the embarrassment from the abstract failure of past games. But this could be the turning point. Well, we do have an easier schedule ahead, except for USC, who just lost to Stanford. Stanford! So even there we might have a chance. Please, speak softly now, you might shatter my bubble.
WE WON!
WE WON... WE WON... WE WON!
We won we won we won we won we won
wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon
wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon
wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon wewon
Well, we won last night, and I'm only a little pleased. Not very excited at all.
Okay, I lied. I'm thrilled... over the moon... ecstatic... so excited I can't breathe. You get the idea. But my excitement is a bit tempered by our past performance and the embarrassment from the abstract failure of past games. But this could be the turning point. Well, we do have an easier schedule ahead, except for USC, who just lost to Stanford. Stanford! So even there we might have a chance. Please, speak softly now, you might shatter my bubble.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Diapers
Diapers. Okay, maybe not the most titillating topic ever, but one on my mind lately. As I near the due date - not changed despite Baby J being over 2 weeks ahead of schedule in size and development - I find that I want to work out these details. I have been trying to decide between disposable and cloth diapers. So I finally called the diaper cleaning service to get a price quote and then I did some math (clearly my strong suit). In the end, with the diaper service, cloth and disposables end up being about the same price. But add to the mix that if you launder the diapers yourself, cloth ends up being half the price. And I thought to myself, "Hey, I'm already cleaning up after Tiggy and changing her diapers, why not for my own child?" And then I asked myself if I had a brain tumor and just how much crap (literally) did I feel like wading through? I called a cooler head and the decision is made. We will use the cloth diapers, and we will launder them ourselves. We'll also use disposables when we're out, simply for the sake of convenience and sanitation of the diaper bag. So here's the logic and reasoning behind the decision.
1. Cloth is better on the skin. I have very sensitive skin, and Husband has normal to sensitive skin (prone to heat rash), so Baby J will likely have similar issues.
2. Less diaper rash. Because cloth diapers breathe more, you can smell when they need to be changed sooner, and so you do change them more often. The greater airflow allows the skin to stay drier and therefore less prone to irritation even if the diaper doesn't get changed fast enough.
3. Less landfill trash. I am a bit of a hippy, and believe in conservation as much as possible, and this isn't an unreasonable step to take to keep tons of trash from building up each year. It's not like asking me to live like a pioneer or cavewoman, so I was willing to consider it.
4. Save some money. It's a savings of about $500 a year. While that may not seem like a lot, it's enough to make affording other things a little easier. And with a new baby, I'd prefer to spend money on things that will last and are actually important.
6. We get our own diapers back from doing the laundry ourselves, while God only knows whose diapers we'd be getting from the diaper service. Okay. Fine. They're laundered to be highly sanitary, but that's because you're getting someone else's undies. I don't want my child wearing something that someone else has pooped in. It may be perfectly safe - and I'm sure logically that it is - but the idea is just too gross.
5. We already have to do gross things for the dogs, so it's not unreasonable to be willing to do the same and more for our baby.
6. I don't have to do all the poop duty myself. There are three adults in the household. Husband and I will split being at home during the work week so we can both fulfill our grad student duties, and Mama will be at home on nights and weekends. So there will be times I'll get a break from the gross stuff.
So there you have it. The arguments for using and self-laundering cloth diapers. And here is the latest ultrasound of Baby J:
1. Cloth is better on the skin. I have very sensitive skin, and Husband has normal to sensitive skin (prone to heat rash), so Baby J will likely have similar issues.
2. Less diaper rash. Because cloth diapers breathe more, you can smell when they need to be changed sooner, and so you do change them more often. The greater airflow allows the skin to stay drier and therefore less prone to irritation even if the diaper doesn't get changed fast enough.
3. Less landfill trash. I am a bit of a hippy, and believe in conservation as much as possible, and this isn't an unreasonable step to take to keep tons of trash from building up each year. It's not like asking me to live like a pioneer or cavewoman, so I was willing to consider it.
4. Save some money. It's a savings of about $500 a year. While that may not seem like a lot, it's enough to make affording other things a little easier. And with a new baby, I'd prefer to spend money on things that will last and are actually important.
6. We get our own diapers back from doing the laundry ourselves, while God only knows whose diapers we'd be getting from the diaper service. Okay. Fine. They're laundered to be highly sanitary, but that's because you're getting someone else's undies. I don't want my child wearing something that someone else has pooped in. It may be perfectly safe - and I'm sure logically that it is - but the idea is just too gross.
5. We already have to do gross things for the dogs, so it's not unreasonable to be willing to do the same and more for our baby.
6. I don't have to do all the poop duty myself. There are three adults in the household. Husband and I will split being at home during the work week so we can both fulfill our grad student duties, and Mama will be at home on nights and weekends. So there will be times I'll get a break from the gross stuff.
So there you have it. The arguments for using and self-laundering cloth diapers. And here is the latest ultrasound of Baby J:
Monday, September 24, 2007
Football
Okay. Football has been a bit disappointing lately (yes, I am the queen of understatement). But there's still hope. The Bears do okay when Grossman sucks and they do great when he's good. I see an easy fix here. GET RID OF GROSSMAN! I'm tired of him showing up and choking. I'm tired of getting excited when he rocks only to be crushed when he plays like a high school freshman. We need some consistency here. If he sucked all the time, they'd fire him, but because he really shows some awesome talent sometimes they stick with him. If he played to his potential more often than not, then I'd have no problem with that. But it really is hit and miss. Literally. Sigh. Okay, on to my other team. The Irish. We did better this time, so the training camps last week clearly helped a lot. I mean, we did get 2 (count them 2!) offensive touchdowns in on game, and in one half even! That's more points than we've had all season up to then. Then it got nasty - for us. Our O-line still needs a lot of work, but at least they were able to do some blocking and gave Clausen a chance to actually throw the ball. He needs to learn to throw the ball away rather than get sacked with the ball and lose yardage. The receivers need to learn how to actually catch the ball. You know, receive the ball. Our defensive line did a good job, and thankfully they weren't out there the whole game as was previously the case. It helps them a lot to have the offense on the field for more than one play. I was still disappointed in the game, but relieved we weren't blown out.
So for the Bears, it's still dodgy. We could win, we could lose. Who knows? As for the Irish, we look poised to start winning.
So for the Bears, it's still dodgy. We could win, we could lose. Who knows? As for the Irish, we look poised to start winning.
Monday, September 10, 2007
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Saturday, September 08, 2007
When It Rains, It Pours
When is rains it pours. So my week has been a real ....... trial.
Nasty Surprise #1: I took the car in for maintenance, expecting about a $500. bill. Well, it's been a while since anything was done to it, and all the little things added up to $1000. in brake work and various other things. Trust me, I looked to see if I was being cheated, but nothing was a surprise or over-changed. Fine. The car hasn't needed any repairs beyond simple maintenance, and it now has almost 130,000 miles on it, so okay. I can handle that, albeit grudgingly.
Nasty Surprise #2: I got a call from the office of my directorate at LLNL and they were trying to let me know in advance that payroll messed up my last paycheck and were going to take it back and reissue my paycheck. They weren't sure how that would happen, but thought I should have the chance to call them and make arrangements for how it would work in case I didn't have the money in the account any longer. So I checked my bank. They already took the whole paycheck out by direct withdrawal. Apparently they have the right to do this since it's a direct deposit. I, of course, had paid a month's worth of bills with this month's worth of pay and so didn't have the whole paycheck available. The remainder of the paycheck was taken out of my savings account and a fee assessed do to overdraft, and not all of the checks have cleared, the house payment for example. I called the payroll department to find out if they were going to make a direct deposit in the correct amount and was told they had mailed me a paper check since the direct withdrawal had cleared. So my paycheck should arrive next week sometime. Keep in mind this is after 5:30pm, so the bank is closed. I then set up a transfer out of my money market account to cover the checks still waiting to be cashed, but that will take 2-3 business days. This means that some of the bills may come in before I have any money to cover them. So Michael and I went to the bank to talk to them and see what we could do. The bank is going to honor all the checks that come in, so our credit will be fine, but that fees will still be assessed for overdraft and that since this is caused by the sudden removal of my paycheck, without warning, that it is legally LLNL's responsibility to reimburse me for those fees. So, I will be letting them know that I expect them to pay for the fees. After some internet research, apparently it is legal to take money out of an account for which there is a direct deposit, but that legally, any fees incurred from doing so are the withdrawer's responsibility. So a pain in the butt, but not something for which we cannot recover.
Nasty Surprise #3: A storm blew in yesterday afternoon. It was a normal storm, nothing more violent than usual for around the Great Lakes. But the power kept going on and off. And not all the power, just certain areas. The stove, the three plugs in the kitchen, the tv, another plug in the livingroom, and the airconditioning. Then, overnight, the power stayed off. So I called an electrician and he came out and charged me $145 to tell me it was the power company's fault since only one of the two lines coming in was working. So I called the power company, went to the bank and handled Nasty Surprise #2, came back and waited for them to show up. It didn't take long. He looked things over and agreed with the electrician that the wires going onto the pole were being disrupted/damaged/or something by the tree branches all over them. So he called a crew in to cut away the branches and redo the wires. And they arrived an hour after the first guy left, worked for a little over and hour, asked if we had power to everything (we did) and were gone. The power is still stable and the pole can now be seen and the wires aren't being tackled by branches with every gust of wind.
Nasty Surprise #4: The basement flooded due to the power to the sump pump being out. Then an hour later it flooded again due to the rod in place to keep the little floaty-ball from sticking and not triggering the "flush". So we are going to get a sump pump cover (yes a real one) so it won't stick anymore, and the Husband put a night-light in the outlet so that if the power goes out we can see by visual inspection that there's no power to the sump pump and to not run any water so we don't flood.
Now we need to do a few things to take care of all this stuff, but it's all manageable. Yay! It's really strange though how things seem to happen all at once.
Nasty Surprise #1: I took the car in for maintenance, expecting about a $500. bill. Well, it's been a while since anything was done to it, and all the little things added up to $1000. in brake work and various other things. Trust me, I looked to see if I was being cheated, but nothing was a surprise or over-changed. Fine. The car hasn't needed any repairs beyond simple maintenance, and it now has almost 130,000 miles on it, so okay. I can handle that, albeit grudgingly.
Nasty Surprise #2: I got a call from the office of my directorate at LLNL and they were trying to let me know in advance that payroll messed up my last paycheck and were going to take it back and reissue my paycheck. They weren't sure how that would happen, but thought I should have the chance to call them and make arrangements for how it would work in case I didn't have the money in the account any longer. So I checked my bank. They already took the whole paycheck out by direct withdrawal. Apparently they have the right to do this since it's a direct deposit. I, of course, had paid a month's worth of bills with this month's worth of pay and so didn't have the whole paycheck available. The remainder of the paycheck was taken out of my savings account and a fee assessed do to overdraft, and not all of the checks have cleared, the house payment for example. I called the payroll department to find out if they were going to make a direct deposit in the correct amount and was told they had mailed me a paper check since the direct withdrawal had cleared. So my paycheck should arrive next week sometime. Keep in mind this is after 5:30pm, so the bank is closed. I then set up a transfer out of my money market account to cover the checks still waiting to be cashed, but that will take 2-3 business days. This means that some of the bills may come in before I have any money to cover them. So Michael and I went to the bank to talk to them and see what we could do. The bank is going to honor all the checks that come in, so our credit will be fine, but that fees will still be assessed for overdraft and that since this is caused by the sudden removal of my paycheck, without warning, that it is legally LLNL's responsibility to reimburse me for those fees. So, I will be letting them know that I expect them to pay for the fees. After some internet research, apparently it is legal to take money out of an account for which there is a direct deposit, but that legally, any fees incurred from doing so are the withdrawer's responsibility. So a pain in the butt, but not something for which we cannot recover.
Nasty Surprise #3: A storm blew in yesterday afternoon. It was a normal storm, nothing more violent than usual for around the Great Lakes. But the power kept going on and off. And not all the power, just certain areas. The stove, the three plugs in the kitchen, the tv, another plug in the livingroom, and the airconditioning. Then, overnight, the power stayed off. So I called an electrician and he came out and charged me $145 to tell me it was the power company's fault since only one of the two lines coming in was working. So I called the power company, went to the bank and handled Nasty Surprise #2, came back and waited for them to show up. It didn't take long. He looked things over and agreed with the electrician that the wires going onto the pole were being disrupted/damaged/or something by the tree branches all over them. So he called a crew in to cut away the branches and redo the wires. And they arrived an hour after the first guy left, worked for a little over and hour, asked if we had power to everything (we did) and were gone. The power is still stable and the pole can now be seen and the wires aren't being tackled by branches with every gust of wind.
Nasty Surprise #4: The basement flooded due to the power to the sump pump being out. Then an hour later it flooded again due to the rod in place to keep the little floaty-ball from sticking and not triggering the "flush". So we are going to get a sump pump cover (yes a real one) so it won't stick anymore, and the Husband put a night-light in the outlet so that if the power goes out we can see by visual inspection that there's no power to the sump pump and to not run any water so we don't flood.
Now we need to do a few things to take care of all this stuff, but it's all manageable. Yay! It's really strange though how things seem to happen all at once.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Football
The Husband bought tickets to a 49ers preseason football game. Now, he's a 49ers fan while I'm a Bears fan. Yes, we did still get married despite this fundamental rift. We'll be going to the game against the Broncos. If ever there was a game in which I could actually cheer for the 49ers, that's it. I dislike Denver even more than the 49ers. I guess the Hubby knew what he was doing when he bought these tickets. Not only will I go with him to the game, I'll cheer for his team. The man is devious.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Go Irish! in Berkeley
So the Husband and I were walking down the street for a little exercise today (okay, we were walking to Yogurt Park which is an awesome frozen yogurt shop in Berkeley) when something awesome happened. We were walking along, minding our own business, without a care in the world when all of a sudden a car pulls up beside us and the driver leaned out and yelled "GO IRISH!" I wonder how she knew we were Irish fans. I mean it's not like the Husband was wearing his blue and white Notre Dame shirt while I was wearing this year's "The Shirt" or anything. ;) Just goes to show you there are Irish fans everywhere.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wedding Day
The wedding was awesome! It was perfect. I wasn't nervous at all. I was so excited and so happy. The Fiance was nervous, and wanted to "get it over with, without the wedding blowing up". He marched us down the aisle double time, and our processional hadn't started until we were halfway down to the alter. I told him to slow down, and he did for one step. So then I said, "Slow down, slow down, slow down", while pulling on him a little to try to slow him down. Some of the guests heard and laughed. It was funny. :) The priest, Fr. Tom, saved us by meeting us at the alter and we waited there for a moment or two. Then when sister-in-law R started reciting the first reading, I started bawling. I didn't think I'd cry, and the Fiance was the one who teared up during the rehearsal, but it was the opposite during the wedding. And then during the blessing of the rings I started bawling again. And the other snafu happened when I waited too long to respond to one of the questions asked by Fr. Tom. Otherwise the wedding was perfect! Everyone looked fabulous. His groomsmen were handsome and distinguished. My bridesmaids were beautiful. And my best friend, T, (a Maid of Honor) was able to make it from France, which really meant a lot.
The reception was great! We had a High Tea reception at a historic bed and breakfast. It was too early to have a sit down dinner, and a high tea was such a fun idea! The food was so good, and the cake was delicious. We fed each other cake, and no mess was made. That was a very good thing, because I would have hated to file for divorce on the same day we signed the marriage certificate. ;) The Matron of Honor, JB, gave such a fantastic speech that we were both bawling. One of the Maids of Honor, J, gave a wonderful speech also, and again we were in tears. I have such wonderful friends!
The after party was so much fun, and JB and Li'l B went to so much trouble to make it fabulous. The theme was the one I originally had for the reception. They hung Chinese lanterns, had Chinese food, red velvet cupcakes, tea lights, lots of booze, Nice Save playing live. It was so much fun! The Husband (my husband!) sang Takin' Care of Business, and was HOT! Nice Save worked really hard and practiced a lot so they could play their best for us, and they totally did. We stayed until really late (for a wedding night).
There was some trouble with several of our guest's flights. Maid of Honor, J, was delayed by 8 hours and they lost her luggage. Her dress was in her suitcase, so on the morning of the wedding she had to go to the mall to find a new dress. Thank God I let the bridesmaids pick their own dresses otherwise we'd have been screwed. Anyway, she found a nice dress, and it was on sale. So now she has two nice little black dresses. So it was for the best.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Softball Win!
I watched Fiance play softball today. I must say he was mighty sexy catching and throwing the ball and helping his team win. He did a good job and a number of other players today did well. The last game they played, they all made major goofs, but today they really looked sharp. And they won! This is the first win for them in two years, so their persistence and perseverance paid off. They play again tomorrow. I don't like baseball or football, but it's fun to watch if you know the people playing. It really changes the whole game, and with an hour limit on play time, it doesn't get boring. :)
Wedding Count Down
So I'm finally home! It took an extra 4 hours. I was stuck in the Cincinnati/Kentucky airport for 4 hours because the flight crew was still in Raleigh. Still in Raleigh! We were supposed to leave at 8:55pm, but the flight bringing them to us didn't leave Raleigh until 10:14! The arrived, finally. Then we waited for new paperwork. Sigh. I finally made it home, though. And it was wonderful to see the Fiance and Mama again. The dogs lost their minds when I came in the front door. :) It's good to be so loved.
Since I got home I've been working on all the final details. The bulk of the wedding preparations was no sweat in May. Now it seems like any complication that can arise has. But now we just have to pick up my dress from being pressed, pick up my rings from being soldered at the jewelers, and various confirmation calls to make, and we're ready for the wedding! I can't wait!
Since I got home I've been working on all the final details. The bulk of the wedding preparations was no sweat in May. Now it seems like any complication that can arise has. But now we just have to pick up my dress from being pressed, pick up my rings from being soldered at the jewelers, and various confirmation calls to make, and we're ready for the wedding! I can't wait!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Going Home!
So I'm going home in the morning. I can't wait to get home! I miss The Man, Mama, and my dogs (although not necessarily in that order). ;) I still have some final wedding details to take care of. I have to find a hairstyle, jewelry for the Big Day, gifts for the bridal party, and a gift for the in-laws-to-be. Whew. That's it. I really should have taken care of these things already, but I have been just a tad busy. I have a long day of flying ahead of me tomorrow. I have around 8 hours of flying to do, and several more hours of airport lounging. Which gives me plenty of knitting time! Woo hoo!
I finally updated my knitting blog. I got so behind. I wanted to put up the projects I had done most recently, but they ended up gifted before I could take photos, or were at home still, or whatever. So I decided to forget it. I'll just go from now on. I'm really excited about my latest project. Now I just need to get going on it!
My roommies gave me a send off tonight. They bought wedding cake (small version, since there are only 3 of us, but it's chocolate so not too small) and gave me one of my wedding gifts. They got us the table cloth from our registry. I was pretty happy with that. I've wanted it for a while, but just refused to actually buy it since it's not a "necessity". How in the world I decide these things sometimes, I don't know. Anyway, we had a nice time.
Big Brother 8 started last week. Yes, I am watching trash (reality) tv. For some reason, I just like this show. I don't always watch it, but often enough to be embarrassed, but not embarrassed enough to not watch it. Ah, the drama!
Okay, time for bed. Finally.
I finally updated my knitting blog. I got so behind. I wanted to put up the projects I had done most recently, but they ended up gifted before I could take photos, or were at home still, or whatever. So I decided to forget it. I'll just go from now on. I'm really excited about my latest project. Now I just need to get going on it!
My roommies gave me a send off tonight. They bought wedding cake (small version, since there are only 3 of us, but it's chocolate so not too small) and gave me one of my wedding gifts. They got us the table cloth from our registry. I was pretty happy with that. I've wanted it for a while, but just refused to actually buy it since it's not a "necessity". How in the world I decide these things sometimes, I don't know. Anyway, we had a nice time.
Big Brother 8 started last week. Yes, I am watching trash (reality) tv. For some reason, I just like this show. I don't always watch it, but often enough to be embarrassed, but not embarrassed enough to not watch it. Ah, the drama!
Okay, time for bed. Finally.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Human Nature
require this level of violence to rid oneself of "nuisances" that were once easy to cast off without penalty? In previous eras, men could simply abandon wives and children without any repercussions. Now there's child support and alimony. Are these Okay. What the hell is going on with the world? This month alone there have been numerous reports of men killing their families. Seriously, what the hell? Why is it that when a family dies, it's always the husband/father who did it? Why are these men killing the people they supposedly love? Is society becoming more violent? Has this sort of behavior always existed, and only now becoming more widely reported? I know in other cultures men killing wives and/or children for reasons of honor is accepted, but that's not supposed to be a part of ours. And yet it happens regularly. Is this something that occurred as often before the present day, but was overlooked by a patriarchal and hierarchical society? Or does the lack of hierarchical institutions that protect us also put us at greater risk? Some say our society is losing it's morality. But when did we have this higher morality? When rich men and nobles could rape the staff (male and female staff) without compunction? When men would abandon their wives and children and marry again in another place? When men could beat their wives and children without fear of chastisement (unless the woman had strong/rich brothers)? Some say we are becoming desensitized to violence with all our video games and violent movies. What about our wars? What about in the past when we had wars and patriarchy that allowed (even at times encouraged) violence against women and children? Are we any better off now that 500 years ago? We have laws to help punish the violent ones and to punish those who try to avoid responsibility. For some those laws are a deterrent, for others it's a reason to do more violence. Why is it so much more likely to be killed by a lover/spouse/parent/child than a stranger? Why is it the people we love most are the ones most likely to kill us? It seems very hard to believe that we are more violent now than in the past. But that begs another question. Where does this latent violence come from? Is it human nature? Well, regardless of whether it's human nature, or human nurture, humans suck. Violent humans suck. The ones that killed themselves along with their families did us all a favor by saving us the trial. The ones that didn't kill themselves also, need to be killed. And not painlessly. They need to suffer in retribution. For those who say the death penalty is too cruel, I'm glad it's cruel. That's why they got the death penalty, because no other form of justice was good enough to prevent further crimes or to make retribution for the crimes already committed. Humans suck.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
My Thoughts
I really dislike people. It annoys me when people treat animals like disposables. They seem to think that animals are mere annoyances to be tolerated or disposed of if the whim strikes. It doesn't matter to them that animals have feelings and experience love. People seem to think that humans are somehow superior to all other life forms and that these "others" are worthless or at least negligible. Usually they will use one of two arguments to justify their position. One is that we are superior because we are made in the image of God unlike all other beings. The other is that we are at the top of the food chain. Well, it's bullshit.
Let's take the first argument. So we're made in the image of God. How does that make us a complete image? How can we say that no other beings are made in the image of God only from a different part of God's essence? We imagine what God is like by constructing God from ourselves. We construct our understanding of God from our understanding of ourselves. But are we a complete image of God or a partial image? Are we an image of one aspect of God or the entire aspect of God? We get some ideas from the bible, but no where in the bible does it say that we are the complete image, and that other beings are not an image. It doesn't say that other parts of creation are the simple creative constructions and not images of other parts of God's essence. And why is humanity the pinnacle of God's creation? Aren't a lot of lessons we humans are supposed to learn all about humility and acknowledging that we aren't superior? And so why is it so fundamentally impossible for us to be equal to all living beings in the eyes of our Creator? And how can anyone look into the eyes of a gorilla infant and not see the same spark of life that one sees in the eyes of a human infant? Can we really say that such a spark is less miraculous than the human miracle? And if you see the joy in the eyes of a dog when it gets snuggled and played with, is it any less felt than that of a child at play? Ridiculous. God is Love. Animals experience love just as we humans do. So how can we deny the spark of God in animals?
Now the second argument. So we're at the top of the food chain, right? So why are we felled by the smallest of creatures, the virus? If we are at the top, if we disregard the rest of the chain, we'll destroy the pedestal on which we stand. And then we are destroyed. So who's on top? The top of the chain is only on top as long as the rest of the chain remains in tact.
The moment we devalue life in any form we devalue human life. That should scare the human egotists. If you can care for an animal and not give it its full value, then you lack the capacity to give people their full value.
Let's take the first argument. So we're made in the image of God. How does that make us a complete image? How can we say that no other beings are made in the image of God only from a different part of God's essence? We imagine what God is like by constructing God from ourselves. We construct our understanding of God from our understanding of ourselves. But are we a complete image of God or a partial image? Are we an image of one aspect of God or the entire aspect of God? We get some ideas from the bible, but no where in the bible does it say that we are the complete image, and that other beings are not an image. It doesn't say that other parts of creation are the simple creative constructions and not images of other parts of God's essence. And why is humanity the pinnacle of God's creation? Aren't a lot of lessons we humans are supposed to learn all about humility and acknowledging that we aren't superior? And so why is it so fundamentally impossible for us to be equal to all living beings in the eyes of our Creator? And how can anyone look into the eyes of a gorilla infant and not see the same spark of life that one sees in the eyes of a human infant? Can we really say that such a spark is less miraculous than the human miracle? And if you see the joy in the eyes of a dog when it gets snuggled and played with, is it any less felt than that of a child at play? Ridiculous. God is Love. Animals experience love just as we humans do. So how can we deny the spark of God in animals?
Now the second argument. So we're at the top of the food chain, right? So why are we felled by the smallest of creatures, the virus? If we are at the top, if we disregard the rest of the chain, we'll destroy the pedestal on which we stand. And then we are destroyed. So who's on top? The top of the chain is only on top as long as the rest of the chain remains in tact.
The moment we devalue life in any form we devalue human life. That should scare the human egotists. If you can care for an animal and not give it its full value, then you lack the capacity to give people their full value.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Not There Yet
Well, I'm still waiting for the flight arrangements to be made to go back to Cali for the summer. I can't wait. It looks like I'll get there sometime next week. My Darling left for San Diego today. His sister, Rachel, is graduating from college. She'll start her student teaching this summer. I was hoping to be able to ge there for her graduation but I wasn't able to get the travel arrangements to Cali made in time. Sadness.
Research is going. I have a low mass star going through it's evolution, and of course it's taking forever. And I still can't get onto the correct computer through the vpn to continue my helium shell flashes and my black hole - red giant interaction. I'm just itching to get to them.
Research is going. I have a low mass star going through it's evolution, and of course it's taking forever. And I still can't get onto the correct computer through the vpn to continue my helium shell flashes and my black hole - red giant interaction. I'm just itching to get to them.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Liver more again!
I am going to work at LLNL again this summer. They really wanted me to come work for them again. The internship didn't get funding this year, but they were able to find funding elsewhere for me. :) Makes me feel really good that they value me and my contributions. I am valued! And I'll be living with Annie and Lauren again. We'll be staying in Berkeley. It's really nice in Berkeley. The weather is so much nicer than in Livermore. I'll leave for California at the end of the month, and I'll come back the beginning of September. Michael will come back with me after the wedding. We'll have a little adventure for our first month of married life. :)
We just had dinner with John and Julie and a bunch of other friends. It was fun. We had sushi which I helped prepare. Boy do I love the shrimp sushi! We play Zoobie Zoobie, and insanely simple and fun and annoying drinking game. It was a seriously good time. John and Julie are some awesome party-givers.
We just had dinner with John and Julie and a bunch of other friends. It was fun. We had sushi which I helped prepare. Boy do I love the shrimp sushi! We play Zoobie Zoobie, and insanely simple and fun and annoying drinking game. It was a seriously good time. John and Julie are some awesome party-givers.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Busy Busy Busy
Murphy is getting really big. He's almost as big as Kelsey now. She loves it! She really likes having another big dog who will play with her. Brandy wouldn't play with her because she was too rough, but Murphy doesn't mind. She's more gentle with him than she was with Brandy. Murphy is my boy. He loves to just sit with me and snuggle. I love that. He likes to sit with Tigger also. Tigger loves having him hang out with her. Alex is a little put out. He doesn't like the challenge to his dominance, but he does like it when Murphy follows him around and plays with him. Murphy does challenge him for the lead. When Murphy growls at Alex over the food dish (his own) we don't allow that. He has to know there will be no eating out of other bowls, and no one will eat out of his bowl, either.
I haven't had time for any knitting or crochet or quilting in a long time. How am I going to keep my marbles? I'm not, so I guess there's the answer to that.
My Darling and I were in a computer programming contest. We took second! Nice. I was pretty psyched to do well since I don't program in C++, and so that was all on My Turtle. However, my mad math skills saved the day and helped us take second.
I've decided I like sushi, but only as made by my friend Julie. She makes the best sushi I've ever had! There's no yucky "fishy" smell or taste, and no icky rubbery-yet-slimey crap. *Shudder* And I'm not the only one. A number of friends agree that Julie is the Sushi Making Queen!
I haven't had time for any knitting or crochet or quilting in a long time. How am I going to keep my marbles? I'm not, so I guess there's the answer to that.
My Darling and I were in a computer programming contest. We took second! Nice. I was pretty psyched to do well since I don't program in C++, and so that was all on My Turtle. However, my mad math skills saved the day and helped us take second.
I've decided I like sushi, but only as made by my friend Julie. She makes the best sushi I've ever had! There's no yucky "fishy" smell or taste, and no icky rubbery-yet-slimey crap. *Shudder* And I'm not the only one. A number of friends agree that Julie is the Sushi Making Queen!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Written Exam
Well, I took the written candidacy exam yesterday. It looks like I passed! I will find out for sure tomorrow, but I feel really good about it. Yay! I spent so much time working on preparing for the exam that life was on hold until yesterday. Now I can do things again. I am finally doing some more knitting, and I finished yet another scarf. I have to block it and add some tassels, then I can give it to my fiance. :) I will be setting up a blog for knitting and crocheting only. I can't add the scarves I made for Christmas gifts yet, but I will take pictures and put it up after I'm sure the recipient's have gotten their gifts. Also, wedding planning will go into high gear starting tomorrow. I also have to get ready for the talk I'm going to give at the April APS meeting, and get some more research done. Whew! Life just never quits! :)
Toni is in France now. I'm so jealous!
Toni is in France now. I'm so jealous!
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