Distracted Mind

Amidst all of the atrocities, the bloodshed and the chaos in Iraq, something good has happened that we should celebrate. Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor journalist that was kidnapped November 26, 2005, has been released.

This is good news amidst the horrifying events occurring daily in Iraq, but there needs to be more news like this. There are still journalists, soldiers, civilians and relief workers being used as pawns. These people have just as much of a right to safety and freedom. As much as I’m celebrating Carroll’s release, I’m thinking about the families of the three Iraqi journalists that haven’t been released and praying that their families will soon celebrate their releases.

I don’t know Jill Carroll. I don’t have any reason to care, no reason to relate to her except that she’s my age. She went over to Iraq to do her job and was kidnapped doing it. I’ve been following her story, hoping that she would be released, and it’s happened. There’s not many details about her release, but there is a reason to celebrate about her captors recognizing her innocence and letting her go.

[Christian Science Monitor: Jill Carroll update](http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/carroll_update.html)

Oh. My. God. [This Link](http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2006-03-0322-003.shtml) is non-fiction, which is why it’s so scary. A sculpture of Britney Spears, nude (that’s _neewwwwd_, or _nekkid_), on a bearskin rug giving birth. Say it with me kids: _”Eeeeewww!”_ It’s not that I find birth to be an ugly ordeal, or that I find the idea of commemorating a birth with art to be lewd, it’s just the whole package of Britney Spears, the bearskin rug, and the freeze-frame of labor to be a little much.

I’ve given birth. It’s messy, it’s smelly, it’s painful. I’ve heard people say that it’s a beautiful experience but I wouldn’t really characterize it that way. It’s very human. It’s gritty and pretty unsanitary. There’s fluids involved. It’s not the type of thing I’d picture myself doing on a bearskin rug, but that may just be me. Bearskin rugs have a bit of a sexy connotation. Labor, it ain’t sexy.

As the reigning queen of WalMart culture, Spears poses in a downward-facing-dog type fashion, her firstborn son’s head crowning, with her hair done in a matronly loose bun. It seems a lot calmer than I remember birth (but then, the last part was a bit of a blur, having been extremely fatigued and in the ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET OF PAIN), and a whole lot creepier. This is a monument for the Pro-Life movement? _Ick._

This mind has been more than a little full the past few days with projects and plans, since I’ve got a newly two-year-old and some very cool projects happening at CSU (can’t talk about them yet, since they’re still in the planning stages, but I promise that they’re cool). In addition to the second birthday, I’ve got a little list of the things that have been going on:

* Creating the [Refresh Cleveland site](http://www.refreshcleveland.org)

* Designing a new theme for Distracted Mind (this one is going to be available as a free theme for the public as well very, very soon). Get a whiff of that new theme smell!

* Contemplating creating a support group for re-design addicts. Really. How many times does this make?

* Figuring out my shiny new [Olympus Evolt E-500 digital camera](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=burningrivers-20%26link_code=xm2%26camp=2025%26creative=165953%26path=http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%253fASIN=B000BK39N4%2526tag=burningrivers-20%2526lcode=xm2%2526cID=2025%2526ccmID=165953%2526location=/o/ASIN/B000BK39N4%25253FSubscriptionId=0EMV44A9A5YT1RVDGZ82). I love my shiny new camera — it’s the reason for the new theme. It definitely has a bit of a learning curve, but it’s absolutely awesome to hold a camera that doesn’t feel like a toy, that I can focus manually, and that helps me take good photos. Lots more pictures coming soon.

* Crocheting a [cardigan using a knitting pattern](http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/PATTsonnet.html). Really, this isn’t as hard as it would seem, but I’m a perfectionist and have ripped it out three times. ARRGH!

* Entertaining lovely furnace estimator guys to get an estimate for a new furnace and central air (ahhh… central air). This will replace the behemoth incinerator of a furnace that’s been in our house since 1942. Seriously, the thing looks like you could use it to get rid of bodies and at _maybe_ 55% efficiency, this old momma’s got to go.

* Interviewing for a different job.

* Realizing that I _love_ my current job. Honestly, I’ve got the closest thing I’ve come to my dream job. I get paid to research, learn and teach technology in a _hugely_ creative environment. That and nobody minds that I prefer macs. How could I leave this?

* Turning down the different job. It felt _very_ weird to decline the opportunity, since I’m 27 and started looking for jobs on the backside of the dot-com boom. I still feel strange saying no but like I said, how could I leave my current job? Sometimes you just need to be reminded of how good you’ve got it by looking at how other work environments operate.

* Celebrating the fact that it’s been two years since my twenty-one (!!!) hour marathon of happy-fun-childbirth. The toddler years are _so_ much more fun than those first few months of newborn haze and tears (mine, not my daughter’s). I can’t tell you how much more fun it is right now with my comedian of a daughter who wiggly-dances to the theme song of _King of the Hill_.

My post on Feagler’s speaking engagement at CSU has had a few comments, and I’d be remiss if I said they’ve been in Feagler’s favor. I’ve spewed some venom against our dear Dick in the past, but I’m actually looking forward to his lecture.

In all fairness, I think that Dick Feagler has a lot to offer as a speaker. I think that the title of his lecture says it all: as a columnist and writer, he is a gatekeeper for local media. The news really is what he says it is. He’s an old-timer, yes, and he can bloviate with the best of them, but he has value. The fact that he is, in a small part, a media gatekeeper, means that it’s important to hear what he says. Even if I disagree with him.

I’m going to try to go and see him, if work allows, because I want to hear what he says. Honestly, I think it could be good. His views on blogging aside, Feagler has a valuable perspective–he’s seen a lot and can has time on his side. I want to see if the curmudgeon act is just that–an act. The man doesn’t always write about how the good old days are better, and he does, on occasion, write powerful stuff. Just because I disagree with his views on blogging, or find his lack of research on the subject to be more than a little disturbing, he’s a good writer. I want to hear what he has to say, and perhaps respond to his views.

This is what I think blogging has to offer to the “old media”, and vice versa. As the face of media continues to change and merge, we’re going to have more discussions. The ideas that old media is wrong, or that the new media is impetuous and inexperienced will fall away as we have more conversations between the two. I want to see what Feagler has to offer to the new journalists and writers coming out of Cleveland. I hope I won’t be disappointed.

CSU is hosting Dick Feagler on April 3, from 1:45 – 3:00 p.m. The title of his lecture? “News Is What I Say It Is”. The free, public lecture is sponsored by the School of Communication and the Society of Professional Journalists (CSU student chapter), and is located at Drinko Hall, in the Music and Communication Building, 2001 Euclid Avenue Music and Communication Building, 2001 Euclid Ave.

When I order something online, I become obsessive about tracking numbers. I have a mac widget to check tracking any time I press F12, I check the tracking pages at UPS and FEDEX, and now I have another tool to further my obsessions: [Package Tracking With Google Maps and RSS](http://isnoop.net/tracking/), from [isnoop](http://isnoop.net). Not only can I see the distance my package has traveled, via google maps, but I can subscribe to an RSS feed that updates _every_ time my package moves. The only thing that would be better is a webcam that would show me how my baby’s being handled.

I clearly need more medication.

Today is one of those days. You know the type, the mixed bag sort of day. I’ve nearly pitched, headfirst, down the staircase at work three times. I’ve just now realized that I never added my main email address (@bellvanceart.com) to Thunderbird, so I just had to download a week and a half’s worth of email. I got a terrific deal on some Haitian Blue Fair Trade coffee over at Cafe Ahroma. I just bought [my dream camera](http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7442109&type=product&id=1124432398418) for a fantastic price (thanks to my gorgeous and divine husband, who found the best deal).

Like I said, it’s a mixed bag sort of day.

With apologies to serious poets and haiku enthusiasts everywhere:

Giddy, I open
my cherished brand new cellphone,
some parts, they're missing

Customer Service
serves only to confuse me.
New promises made.

Second box arrives,
the same parts missing again.
Pop! My head explodes.

Edited because my haiku skills are sub-par and formatting poetry is a bitch.

After the brouhaha over abortion over at Brewed Fresh Daily yesterday, [this article](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801450.html) from the Washington Post: [Unintended Pregnancy Linked to State Funding Cuts](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801450.html). This quote was especially illustrative:

At the same time, states as different as Nebraska, Ohio and Utah were among the worst when it came to providing access to contraceptives for needy women and teenagers, as well as gynecological exams and information on preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Wow. We really need to stop making the news like this. Of course, that would mean that we’d actually have to start caring about poor people, more specifically, poor women. How much would we actually save by providing better access to contraceptives and better reproductive care to lower income brackets? This study stated that “Every $1 spent on family planning saves $3 in health care costs related to a pregnancy.” Sounds like the difference between a soda and a latte, until you start thinking in volume. Then it starts to sound like a plan.