Random Lists and Links and Stuff

1. A suggested State of the Union address.

2. Jon Stewart and Elizabeth Warren - I heart thee.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

3. White House Correspondent's Dinner will be hosted by Jay Leno - not Conan? Granted I am sure that the terms for Conan's departure probably would have defined this engagement as an "event." BUT given Conflict of Law analysis, the execution of the settlement agreement in California (not friendly to non-competes) I think his team of legal eagles could have worked it out. Of all the people that I would love to see at this dinner, Conan and his recent tour of multi-million dollar backroom deals and insulated executives would be my top pick. So Leno is going to host. Is it just me or does this seem like the ultimate corporate self-congratulatory move of all freaking time? Oh crap - I am going to lose my mind and become a female Michael Moore (but skinnier).

4. Fareed Zakaria's article "Don't Panic" is interesting and worth the read. As is this.

5. Yoga Buffet? Thoughts?

6. Andrew Sullivan's Pass.The.Damn.Bill series is good. (I no longer think he is on the computer all day - I think he is in the computer.)

7. In the land of Biggest Loser, I was ready to watch Green go! It was way too much victim and don't-cry drama for me. As for Red Team/Melissa, do you really think a lawyer on television is going to admit to lying, Bob and Jillian? Come on?!? If you don't care how they play the game, then don't care. (E.g. do not call a contestant that has taken an oath a liar.) By the way, I know?!? She is totally throwing the weigh-ins. Although, her drama is starting to wear me down a bit as well. Regardless, I really hope Michael meets his 6 week Century o' Weight Loss Goal. Oh and the Spiderman "Great Responsibility" theme - come on?!? We deserve better. This is not On the Wings of Love - okay?

8. Finally, check out this talented little doll of a girl!

This Quote

"There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory."

- Sir Francis Drake

My husband has been playing Uncharted. I have to say that I have really enjoyed watching him play this game. Usually I do not. But this one has been a lot of fun. I feel like I am watching a movie - it is a ridiculous teenager kind of fun to hang out and watch your boyfriend (oh that's right, husband) play a game and enjoy it.

BUT this is NOT my point.

He finished the game and I was watching all the cut scenes with him (because that is how amusing I found this game - don't judge me).

Right at the beginning of the game was that quote. AND I love it.

It sums up pretty much everything I have been thinking and feeling lately.

I have had a number of interactions this past week or so where I am dumbfounded by staffers informing me that health care reform was killed with the election of Scott Brown.

A what the what?

I continue to struggle with understanding how the spin machine can even imagine a world where the election of an unknown populist candidate out of a state that has health care reform (passed under a Republican governor) at a special election speaks to our NATIONAL health care crisis and debate.

Here are some numbers:

The state has an estimated population of 6.5 million.
Last official recorded number of registered voters (2004)
- a little over 2 million.

Unofficially a bit over 4 million following the last Presidential Election.

Coakley only pulled 46% in the Democratic Primary.

Granted the Elections Division has not finalized the election, but preliminarily this is what we think we know.

The total registered turn out for this "national referendum on health care" was 54%.

Brown received an estimated 1,168,107 votes.

Coakley...

(Little Miss. I will not campaign in the cold outside and my campaign didn't coordinate or schedule events with Kennedy's widow until the national office became involved)

received 1,058,682 votes.


Does that mean that 1,168,107 votes spoke for the estimated 45 Million uninsured in this country?

Those votes are 2.6% of the estimated population of uninsured...and none of them are included in the uninsured population given their state of residence.

Similarly do 1,168,107 votes speak for 304,059,724 people of the United States?

This would be .34% - not even 1% of the population - "speaking" for our country.


I was going to rant today about how health care reform is not over till we as a people walk away from this issue. When we who claim to be the home of the brave become so riddled with fear that we allow the aristocracy of our democracy mislead us into another failed reform measure only then is this effort dead - not by a Massachusetts special election.

Today, a handful of Democrats have agreed to continue to push forward with legislation.

Today is important.

It is important to remember that the importance of this debate is at its core (despite the poorly handled communication efforts of the Democrats) about moving our uninsured population to either our Medicaid model or private insurer model (based on income).

It is simply, how do we take our significant population that receives health care in a third world delivery model to an industrialized nation delivery model?

This is about accountability and access.

I dare say - this is about human rights.

The right to health care that we insisted every industrialized European nation rebuild following WWII with an express promise and guarantee to its people that access to health care is paramount.

Today - NOT tomorrow.

Today contact your representatives and let them know that despite the deep gold lined pockets and financially motivated lobbyists barking against reform for the corporations, the people -

the people demand reform.


Write Your Representative

Write Your Senator

Write Your Governator or Governor (depending on where you live)

Write Your State Legislators

Write Your President


Here is a great resource for understanding health care reform.


And for what it is worth, every communication I have been sending out this week includes the following:

In the words of Sir Francis Drake, "There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing until the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory." (emphasis added)


I will also add that an old battle axe of health care reform said to me many months ago as I was pouting about the sausage of a bill and the loss of elements that I deemed important and necessary, "it is important to pass something, as a Nation, we must take the first step of passing something, then we can begin truly fixing health care."

I know. It is not what you want to hear.

Some of you probably aren't even reading this anymore.

I get it. I do.

But I will press on because to me this is our legacy, our humanity, our responsibility.


On a lighter note, thank God I have Biggest Loser to decompress with tonight.

** If you are anti-health care reform and by some miracle are still even listening to me ramble on (regardless of your position, I believe it to be mandatory reading for citizenship), please read the following articles by Dr. Atul Gawande:

The Cost Conundrum

The Cost Conundrum Redux

And more recently,

Testing, Testing



I will shut up now.

Thank you.

Goosed And Such

Crap! I have so much to do and oddly all I feel like doing is talking to you.

I find it bizarre that sometimes posting is more like having a phone call with a long lost old friend. (A phenomenon that facebook never strikes with me. There it is more "holy shit" who the farkle has found me now and OMG his wife has giant breasts.)

Wow? That makes me sound like the ultimate in shitty one-sided friendship - doesn't it?

Geez. There has got to be a better way to explain it. I just currently lack the capacity.

So I have much to do right now and NO freaking time to comment on all the blogs that are cracking me up and lighting my world right now. My stupid phone will only sometimes let me comment. It is annoying.

I just wanted to blather briefly about a few things:

1. I went outside in the rain last night to put food in the dog house for Didymous, the cat, when out of nowhere he and his gang of 4 other neighborhood cats came jumping down out of the tree at me. It was freaking hysterical - actually raining and raining cats. However, no dogs. So despite what you might hear on the nightly news, it is in fact only raining cats here in California.

2. I always wanted to start a company where you could order a slap-o-gram. I know I would be buried in battery litigation, but it would be funny. I thought about mitigating this by holding a policy that one of the costs of ordering a slap-o-gram is that you would also receive a slap at some mysterious time and place in the future - sort of a karma clause if you will. Then I thought about changing it from a slap to someone randomly throwing a shoe. Because the shoe throwing thing for some reason never. ceases. to. amuse. me. Never. Again - we have the battery issue. So, now I am thinking we should be able to order a "really?"-o-gram or "seriously?-o-gram. I mean really - how much fun would it be to send a Senate staffer right now a "really?"-o-gram about the health care reform? Really?

3. I was getting gas (a task that always irritates me for some reason) and parked somewhat on an incline. I went to open the door to my car to get back in and the wind caught the door and buried it in my head! So now I am going to meetings all week with a slightly-larger-than-quarter-size goose egg on my freaking forehead. AND it hurts! It hurts when I raise my eyebrows (which happens frequently). It hurts when I eat. It hurts when I smile. It hurts! AND it is freaking ridiculous to have a G*&@!$& Goose Egg on My Head!

4. It is entirely possible that the whole door busting my head thing is some mystical retribution for fantasizing about sending slap-o-grams.

5. I continue to be freaking exhausted and my only exercise lately has been the bare minimum operation of my body in daily life activities. I mistakenly tried to walk up 4 flights of stairs last Friday thinking "no big deal, go slow" and was a complete sweaty out of breath mess by the 2nd floor. Argh! I am ready to feel better, people, ready.

6. Just an in general, Argh, to the world, life and recent current events and challenges.

7. I must return to work now...which inevitably includes shocked looks and gasps when people see the damn goose egg for the first time.

Awesome.

Walking Freaking Pneumonia

Alternatively titled:

I Have No Energy Ever;

Too Tired To Care;

Shhhhhhhhhhhh;

Please Don't Forget to Buy More Kleenex;

Are You Sure It Isn't Mono?;

or,

Dear God, It's Me, Filoli.



So.

I am still under the weather, but not as much as before - hopefully.

Let's see. Since we last spoke I took a major header in the health department. My body did things with mucus that is unspeakable and prior to last week I would have said unfathomable. I find it amusing that this is "walking pneumonia" because I feel like walking no where. Yesterday morning I thought that perhaps this sickness would never end and fell back to sleep. When I woke up at noon. Yes that is right - I slept the entire morning. I felt surprisingly somewhat better.

I decided to pick up the bathroom and bedroom a bit. Simple things. Although soon after making the bed you would have thought these were Herculean tasks because I was ready to lay down again. Pathetic really.

Today, I have what I call energy sprints.

Right now I am waiting on one to hit me again so that I can do some work.

I wonder if there are few things worse than a "I was sick and still feel sick" post.

I know - terribly boring.


For the record, I know we only had the one episode last week of Biggest Loser (hereafter "BL") but I am already heads-over-heels in love with this season. The New Years Resolution season always, always, ALWAYS plays on my heart strings a bit more.

Plus, that Daris...oh sweet Daris, his broken-heart stilted speech pledging weight loss to make his community proud. See, even now, I get all choked up and emotional just thinking about it. I just wanted to scream thru the TV, "It is okay, Daris, you can do it, even if you get kicked off. I will relocate to Oklahoma and chase you down and whittle you into the svelte man of your dreams. You will be all Justin Timberlake with your curls and whiteness by the time this over. JT I say! JTeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Although, I was a bit "what the what, BL" when they showed up in limos (we are not the Bachelor, NBC - not Bachelor). I did not like that at all. I missed the camaraderie and "going off to camp" bliss of the group stupidly happy that they are going to the mystical ranch of their dreams where pounds just melt off of them when Jillian and Bob wave their magical wands of weight loss over them.

However, it did seem to be a bit more appropriate since they were going straight to an elimination. A pitiful conciliation prize - "I was on BL for 7 minutes and all I got was this lousy tee and a ride in a gas guzzler long black car." (Clearly this was not Green Week for NBC.)

So, if last season was "Second Chances" this season's theme must be "No Chances." Also, was I the only person that went "Hey? Did you just eliminate the only 2 black couples in this season in one freaking elimination?" My inner-city kid immediately puffed up and cried, "Why so Jim Crow, BL?" Clearly, they heard my cry because then out of the dark of night Jillian and Bob jump out from the forest of loneliness and regret to stop the limo and surprise the four with a "new challenge." Really? I know the whole point of Scripted Unscripted Reality Shows is to phone in the writing, but come on? AND, really? They will see them tomorrow? Because tomorrow they are supposed to be training those contestants that are staying in the house? Granted I do watch this on DVR and try to skip over the inevitable 4 minute replay of the last 4 minutes of the show that BL does after every commercial break - but have Jillian and Bob done so many BL seasons and in so many locations that NBC has actually replicated them?

This is possible. I mean they did save all that money with Leno's prime time experiment.

[Evil Scientist Cackle at the Announced Cancellation of Leno]





[Evil Laughing Continues]




[One More Deep and Oddly Hysterical Evil Laugh]


Truthfully, I think the biggest bummer of the immediate elimination is that I really wanted to see O'Neal chisel up, Sunshine heat up some self-esteem, Cherita is a breast cancer survivor (need I say more?) and that Victoria...so sweet that Victoria, sooooooo sweet!


I will admit to my first BL crush of the season.

Big Poppa Mike

When he said, "I could lose the weight of an entire overweight person and still be overweight." I was all a giggles and tears and giggles. He could not be more freaking adorable the entire damn show. So of course, I have spent considerable energy (which is currently limited) fretting that given how low their percentage was last week that this week could be our last week with the Notorious M.I.K.E.

He must stay, people, must stay.

He is our new Shay. He must stay!

Stay!


I admit that I find myself worshipping at the feet of the false idol which is Jillian Michaels. God help me, I love those crazy wild eyes all bulgy and yelling at you. I know I should be put off by it when Dr. Phillian was perched up, birdlike and "caw, caw, caw" on the treadmill yelling at Orange Cheryl, but it amused me to no end. Shamefully, I want more. More.

Finally, let's have "arms in the air, up to right, up to the left" for James of the Half Ton Twins dropping another 75 pounds at home post-elimination.

Heeeeeey, hoooooo, James has dropped a C-note of weight, heeeeeeeeey!

In the words of Liz Lemon, "shark farts."

I need a life.

Belated

Ages ago, back when the technology pictured below was employed I was graciously awarded by Dandies the following:
I had plan. Big plans.

But I got sick. Really sick. Swine flu sick the week before Christmas which carried through the holidays. I tried to come back the world of the living, then sick again. Thought I made a 100% recovery. I felt great all weekend. Actually, I felt amazing on Sunday. So amazing I kept telling I felt like I was "living the dream." I have no idea what the hell I meant by that other than it was a good day. Then suddenly late in the evening my throat felt funny. I took a bath and then BAM sick sick sick sick again. Sunday night was horrible. No sleep. Tossing and turning. Odd dreams of living inside a tree (I am fairly certain these are merely Avatar aftershocks and not some new deep subconscious break that I need to think about) then coughing and coughing and coughing.

So Monday - sick.

Today after coughing up disgusting Rorschach images out of some mystery part of my body, I dragged myself to the office. Now I am sitting at the office sick, unproductive, tired and in general - blah.

Not so creative. Not so productive.

So I am wondering if maybe I am kreativ instead.

Seriously? Not to be an ass (although I guess I am) but why is this misspelled?

I had this idea of doing the 7 things tying into the chakras - but I have no energy (ha! - get it, oh that snuck up on me) to finish this project.

7 things seems like a lot to me right now.

But maybe if I do this it will pull me out of my "I feel sick" whine.

Crap. Even blogging feels like an endurance event to me right now.

Regardless, here we go:

1. I think health care is very important and understanding and improving our delivery models are paramount for long term success as a society.

2. My favorite quote from testimony over the past year regarding the health care debate is from Wendell Potter:

"But I have also expressed concern that if Congress goes along with the so-called "solutions" the insurance industry says it is bringing to the table and acquiesces to the demands it is making of lawmakers, and if it fails to create a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, the bill it sends to the President might as well be called the Insurance Industry Profit Protection and Enhancement Act."

3) We were presented information about twin medically fragile infant boys that are currently in the foster system. We were open to the placement. The judge ended up giving the parents another 3 months to work towards reunification - and we are beyond thrilled that both the boys and the parents were given this opportunity and truly hope that it works out for their family. I think the most important lesson that Alpha and I learned was that we were more open to special needs children then we realized.

4) In my fantasy life of being a mother some day, I always had this image/goal/pipe dream that when we had kids I would practice yoga with them every morning. I wanted to provide that kind of foundation for them. Funny thing - I don't do that now. I don't do that for myself. I made fun of my friend that told me she would start buying organic and healthy foods when she had kids, but when it was just her "why bother." I snapped at this logic, then started laughing at my own silliness. If something is important later, it should be important now. I am not yet practicing with any consistency in the morning, BUT I am practicing yoga daily. Honestly, I am not a morning person so this transition to a morning practice is going to be a big challenge for me - if it ever happens at all. It may turn out to not actually be that important to me at all.

5) A couple of months ago, Alpha picked me up after a yoga and I told him how after practice sometimes I feel very connected to a maternal sense of myself and how odd that is for me. We talked about how this may be because of my whole ridiculous fantasy of a daily practice with children or perhaps it was finding a new place in myself where a concept of being somewhat less-than-self-without-kids no longer exists.

Later while reading, I was slapped around a bit intellectually: a) I was reading the story of Krishna and his mother where he continually had to cast the illusion of relationship and concept of "mother" on her when she glimpsed infinity and unity and it would overwhelm her and she would pass out; and b) in a way, how we live our life, our choices, our decisions give birth to who and what we are and and will be next - in that way, I am a mother to myself, but often a negligent mother and I need to tend to ensuring that what comes next is better by being better bit by bit here and today.

6) Wow. I still do not feel well. I genuinely hope that I feel better soon. After all the new season of Biggest Loser starts tonight and I would like to feel well when I watch it.

7) Decisions are hard for me. I have no idea what my life is supposed to look like or be like. All I know is that with a regular yoga practice I am starting to stop asking for map and be the path that I need to figure out what is the right course of action for me. I really hope that soon things will become clearer to me and I can move forward in the direction of a more fuller self.

As for tagging, I do not have the energy right now. Plus, I am late to this train.

As such, I am changing it into something that I saw on another blog.


Happy for a New Year

The Rules:

"List 10 things that made you happy today and tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day. For those 10 bloggers who get the award, you must link back to my blog...the last part, only if you want to...blah, blah, blah, rules, rules, rules, rules meant to be broken, rules..."

Ten things that MADE ME HAPPY TODAY:

Husband made amazing beet, spinach and pear juice for me this morning;
Kale;
Avocado;
Being out of bed;
I didn't have to stop for gas;
Husband packed lunch so one less task and errand for the day;
Friend's baby is almost due;
A post about a pot brownie that continues to make me giggle;
Despite being locked out by Pandora last month for "excessive use" I am back in this month;
I can go home now.

*and Biggest Loser starts tonight...


As for tagging 10 blogs that make me happy, I am too tired. So, if you are reading this (regardless of whether or not you comment), you may consider yourself awarded because frankly if you read this, you are definitely on my list of happy.

Oy! I am heading home and back to pajamas, television and soup.