Category Archives: Self-Indulgence

Forward 2012

November 4, 2012 – 5:43 pm

In the wake of a devastating superstorm fueled by climate change; at a time when Republican senators cannot seem to stop engaging in foot-in-mouth discussions about rape; while Tea Party members and toupeed billionaires attempt to degrade, shame and attack the President of the United States via thinly veiled racism; as popular conservative pundits prove to be more outwardly hateful and racist by repeatedly playing songs like, “Barack the Magic Negro” on their radio show as well as calling the sitting President a “retard”: I can’t fathom how any Republican can embrace their current party.

As a woman, as a mother, as a human being I must ask: where do you draw the line? What values are you teaching your children? What kind of price are you willing to pay for a tiny tax cut?

Sacrificing your reproductive rights?

Denying people their basic civil rights?

Really?

I am a Democrat.

I am a Democrat because I would be willing to pay a bit more in taxes to fund government programs like Medicaid, The Affordable Care Act and Food Stamps which help disadvantaged Americans.

I am a Democrat because I am compassionate and respect the rights of others, and those are the responsibilities and values I am instilling in my daughter.

Naturally, I’m voting for Barack Obama this week, and for many reasons. Here they are, in no particular order of importance:

I’m voting for Obama because he believes reproductive choices should be made between a woman and her doctor.

I’m voting for Obama because the Republican Platform is calling for a constitutional ban on abortion.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney wants to overturn Roe v Wade.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney said he will appoint supreme court justices who would overturn Roe v Wade, and five of the current justices are over seventy years of age.

I’m voting for Obama because he repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Before that repeal, “More than 13,000 service members had been discharged since DADT went into effect in 1993” (LA Times, July 23, 2011). That means 13,000 military members were discharged simply for being openly gay.

I’m voting for Obama because he was the first Democratic President to come out in support of gay marriage.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney supports the passing of a constitutional amendment defining marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.”

I’m voting for Obama because he supports labor unions.

I’m voting for Obama because he wants to reinstate the ban on assault weapons. No citizen needs an assault weapon. Period.

I’m voting for Obama because he stopped the unnecessary war in Iraq and wants to end our presence in Afghanistan.

I’m voting for Obama because he stopped us from stumbling into a depression, we avoided a complete meltdown, and all signs show us heading in the right direction. Anyone who thinks more could have been done in only four years with the task he inherited is delusional. Seriously.

I’m voting for Obama because of the Affordable Care Act.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney and Ryan’s healthcare plan would NOT prohibit discrimination based on pre-existing conditions.

I’m voting for Obama because of his student loan reforms that would enable more people to get a college education.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney wants to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases under The Clean Air Act.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney would cut all funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization which provides life-saving medical preventative care for millions of women.

I’m voting for Obama because he approved one of the largest funding increases for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs in decades.

I’m voting for Obama because his Job Corps Act would put veterans to work as police officers, firefighters, and rangers in our National Parks.

I’m voting for Obama because Mitt Romney doesn’t have a plan to address unemployment among veterans, or at least not one that I’ve seen through my research.

I’m voting for Obama because he supports stem cell research.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney wants to uphold No Child Left Behind, which, as any teacher knows, is a NIGHTMARE.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney wants to start drilling in federally protected areas, discontinue wind and solar energy development and is against carbon emissions regulations.

I’m voting for Obama because he wants to cut military funding and use more sanctions and diplomacy.

I’m voting for Obama because Romney wants to increase the strength of armed forces as well as the military budget.

I’m voting for Obama because the Romney plan suggests taxes would decrease for the wealthy but rise for the middle class, according to the Tax Policy Center.

I’m voting for Obama because I believe in science.

I’m voting for Obama because I believe in climate change, and it’s certainly not a joke.

I’m voting for Obama because of THIS:

What a dick.

#Obama2012

Tags Democrat, election 2012, Obama, vote | Permalink | Comments (52)

burbs Self-Indulgence

Let’s keep an eye on it.

October 23, 2012 – 9:40 am

“The doctor will be right in to talk about your mammogram and do the ultrasound”, she said after shoving a wedge-shaped pillow under my right side and covering my bare torso.

I gazed up at the ceiling panel above the exam table with the poorly painted bouquet of flowers in its center. Roses, or what were supposed to be pink roses, but the artist used black paint instead of a complementary color for shading and each flower just looked muddy and grayish. It annoyed me. The dainty yellow flowers that were supposed to be delicate and gently dangling from their slender stems were also shaded with black paint, except when you add black paint to yellow you end up with pea-soup and I started to realize that maybe this was painted by a high school student. Maybe a high school art class was feeling charitable and painted tile panels that randomly adorned the ceilings of this hospital in an effort to brighten the lives of its nervous, stressed-out patients, and here I was being a pill and ungrateful.

So typical. So jaded.

Maybe that’s why I was there. Maybe that’s why I was laying on an exam table with a white terrycloth towel covering my chest staring at a film clipped to the wall that showed a blizzard in my breast. Cloudy swirls peppered with dense white spots filling an area that wasn’t even the lump but a new worry, a new concern that had the technicians retake images once, and then once more.

The mauve on the hideous ceiling roses reminded me of the sea of half-naked women in waiting room with their boobs hiding beneath the well-worn pink robes we were issued as soon as we entered the office. I sat there for almost an hour pretending to read an old issue of Vanity Fair while wondering which one of us would get the news. Which one of us would leave this office trembling and sit in the parking garage of the hospital making phone calls and wondering what now? Seventeen of us at one point, seventeen women feigning interest in back issues of Good Housekeeping while discreetly eyeballing each other hoping we could all beat the statistic.

1 in 8.

As I pulled my striped shirt and tote from my designated locker she entered the changing room and I noticed her overly tanned and wrinkled hand trembling ever so slightly as she fumbled with her key so I looked away quickly and hurried into a cubby to change.

The New England morning chill blasted my trench coat wide the second I yanked open the door to the first level of the parking garage and stepped onto the gloomy concrete driveway. The heat blew my hair back when I turned on the car and the familiar smell of old chocolate milk sippy boxes that had been kicked under the passenger seat to bake in the summer sun mixed with the scent of wet dog after a romp through a dingy pond and I sat there and cried.

(…just write)

Tags breast cancer, mammograms | Permalink | Comments (12)

Self-Indulgence We Love Art Yes Please

Yes, please: Art Teacher Style

October 4, 2012 – 9:20 am

I may be a New Yorker, but I don’t fall for the whole “wear black all the time” thing. If I’m ever wearing black, rest assured my shoes are sparkly and polka-dotted and my handbag is neon green. That’s a given. Here are a bunch of lovely bits I’m currently coveting: bits with bright color, prints, polka-dots and yes, those are foxes. (!!!!) Crazy art teachers can also get away with wearing fancy Parisian chickens. Plus, why not?

Here and There Fox Tee, Anthropologie

The Lia Necklace, Zolie Designs

The Sidewalk Skimmer in Polka Dot, Madewell

Rachel Flare Jeans, Shopbop

Desert Bootie, Shopbop

Charlotte Printed Dress, Free People

Counting Sheep Sweater, Madewell

French Hen Sweater, J.Crew

Madge Leopard Lace-Up Ankle Boot, Urban Outfitters

Tags art teacher, fashion, mom style, yes please | Permalink | Comments (3)

Fit Fuzzbutts Self-Indulgence

(a secret)

June 21, 2012 – 11:27 am

Hey! Guess what?

Look what’s happening all up in this joint:

Yep, those are some dairy-free bits on my counter.

SHHHHH!!! DON’T YOU DARE TELL MY HUSBAND!

Here’s the thing: I’ve been a vegetarian for 6 years, and I’ve never looked back. Never. Okay, maybe as I’ve watched Pete eat a pastrami sandwich on rye at Ben’s Kosher Deli while I poked at my knish, but other than that? Never. I became a vegetarian way back then for purely ethical reasons. I want to snuggle with cows and pigs, not eat them. Look at us at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary last year! I was seriously loving up on some farm animals, and I couldn’t imagine going home to a plate of bacon (like my husband did). That’s okay though, I won’t judge. Not everyone is as animal crazy as I am (read: totally insane and would leave humans behind to live in a magical land filled with only 4-legged snooges tomorrow if it were an option).

As these 6 years have passed, my body has changed. I no longer get the sinus infections that used to plague my head multiple times a year. I have only gotten one stomach bug or bout of food poisoning. My primary care doctor told me that my full blood work had some of the best numbers he had seen IN YEARS. From anyone.

Clearly there is something to the whole STOP EATING THE FREAKING CUTE COWS WITH THE LONG EYELASHES thing.

I’ve read all the books, including:

They’re all mind-blowing reads and I can’t recommend them enough, but what they ARE guilty of, is trying to make you sad. They will guilt you into forgoing meat because of the gruesome, horrific aspects of the factory farming industry, and while that approach worked for me: I don’t think it’s the best way. After all, you can buy grass-fed, humanely raised and slaughtered animal products and feel good about that. Again, I’m not judging. Rock on with your pork chop as long as that animal had the opportunity to live a pretty pleasant life and wasn’t tortured (which is the case with 99% of meat production).

What will REALLY rock your socks off, though, is the movie Forks Over Knives. It’s not about the furry lovebugs- it’s about our health. It is indisputable, really: a plant-based diet is not only better for you, but it can cure your disease. This movie, which you can rent on netflix, itunes, on demand and whatnot, will seriously change your life. Watch it while eating a Big Mac. I don’t care. Watch it while slaughtering a chicken on your coffee table. Whatever. Just watch it, though. For your body, and your family.

That movie inspired me to start my slow transition from a vegetarian to veganism. SLOOOOOOOOW transition. My attempt at going cold-turkey last year turned me into a homicidal psychopath with hives, so I’m taking this slow and easy. I already started subbing almond and coconut milk for my regular milk a long time ago, and I love it. Let’s be real: milk is the BREAST MILK OF A COW. (*wrinkles nose in disgust*) It’s pretty gross if you think of it. I’ve also had SUPER yummy almond milk and coconut milk based ice cream- so that’s not a problem. The problem? The reason I need to take baby steps?

CHEEEEEEEEESE. Nom nom slobber slobber MMMMMMmmm.

Good luck prying this block of Gruyère out of my fist.

Anyone have any tips? Books? Blogs?

Tags vegan, vegetarian | Permalink | Comments (10)

Self-Indulgence Way Back

Mix Tape

January 29, 2012 – 8:57 pm

It’s been awhile since I’ve linked up with Stasha over at Northwest Mommy for her Monday Listicle meme, but as soon as I saw the week’s topic Bruna picked, I was all over it. The mission: “If they were to make a movie of your life, what would the soundtrack be like?”. Hello nostalgia. I love you.

1. 5 or 6 years old. With my legs sticking to the pleather in the backseat of our brown Volare station wagon during a steamy summer, I feel like this song was always on the radio. Always.

2. 8 years old. One of the first vinyl records of my very own (not shared with my older sister), I thought Cyndi Lauper was the epitome of cool, and I’d sit in my room spinning the album She’s So Unusual for hours.

3. 10 or 11 years old. One of the benefits of having a sister 6 years my senior was being introduced to new wave bands like Yaz, Depeche Mode and Erasure at a super- young age. While driving around New England visiting potential colleges for my sister, the first Erasure album was the soundtrack to that trip. I remember thinking the lyrics to “Oh L’Amour” were “Oh L’Amour, broke my heart and now I’m NAKED for you.”, and it would repeatedly make me blush while sitting alone in the backseat of the blue Oldsmobile.

4. Junior High. 8th grade. Skinny chicken legs. Boob-less. Braces. Frizzy, Aussie-scrunch sprayed hair with bangs shellacked into the trademark blown-out tall wave. Second row floor seats. Nassau Coliseum. Poison.

5. Wait, you mean this wasn’t everybody’s anthem for their senior year in high school?

6. When I think of college, this is the song that immediately comes to mind. It’s a bizarre choice considering it originally came out before I was even born, but the popularity of the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack had me dancing on top of many bars with my plastic cup of Natty Light. Oh, college.

7. 22 years old. After college I moved to Raleigh where I clomped my way through some god-awful relationships in hideous platform sandals.

8. 26 years old. Despite having known each other since first grade, Pete and I didn’t start dating until we were 26. Bands like The Shins, Stephen Malkmus and The Strokes defined our time together in Raleigh while we sat on the porch swing drinking Maker’s and ginger. And wine. And beer. And many, many dirty martinis.

9. 31 years old. Michael McDonald. Kenny Loggins. Christopher Cross. I have no idea why it happened, but it did: we became completely obsessed with “Yacht Rock”, and requested that only the super-smooth jams of the seventies and early eighties make up the cocktail hour at our wedding. This was our unofficial wedding song (and we still croon it to one another like morons all the time).