Distracted Mind

This week has been tough. My job is still great, I’m still alive, and I’m not rocking in a corner muttering to myself, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been hard. The biggest thing has been dealing with my daughter’s daycare and the reality that my daughter is basically me, cloned.

I wasn’t what you would call an easy child. I was high strung, energetic, stubborn… what some people would call a free spirit. This caused me problems in school. My progress reports and notes from teachers always mentioned my attention span, my lack of organizational skills (worlds messiest locker, anyone?), and my temper. Back in the eighties, ADHD was still relatively new, not much was known about how ADHD manifested in girls, and I went undiagnosed. It wasn’t until I was in graduate school that I was diagnosed, and by then I had learned a whole slew of coping mechanisms.

On one hand, my experiences can help my daughter, regardless of whether or not she has ADHD. On the other hand, I have no desire for her to go through everything I experienced. I was on hellishly awkward kid. Prone to tears, extremely insecure, pretty much a walking target for bullies… that’s not what I want for my kid. Granted, she’s all of four years old, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not worried for the thirteen year old she’ll grow into.

I’m proud of my daughter for her fierce independence, her intelligence, her willingness to take risks. I don’t want that to be overshadowed. It’s times like this that deep breaths and living in the present are all I can do.

What’s Going On

Tina — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:42:50 +0000

I’ve been doing the link blog thing for quite a while, not updating anything about my actual life. Believe it or not, there are actually reasons for this. One, I was stuck in a job that I genuinely disliked. This depressed me greatly. In fact, it downright pissed me off.

Two, I was pregnant. I was happy about this, still am, and I am now very happy to have two children. Even so, I am not, I repeat not a good pregnant woman. My last pregnancy damned near drove me crazy, and the aftermath completed the trip. Since I was actually happy about the prospect of another child, but very nervous about the possibility of going nuts again, I was naturally a little conflicted.

Stir in just a little bit of late-pregnancy complications, an unexpected c-section, and post-partum recovery, and adding a newborn to our little family, and you have a recipe for no blogging for a while. Just some links every few days.

Of course, now, the baby is out, I’m not crazy, and I’m out of the job I hated. Needless to say, I’m pretty thrilled. In fact, I feel like I got a piece of my soul back. Not only do I now have two kids that I adore, but I also have a job that genuinely challenges me and feels rewarding. The new job smell isn’t quite gone yet, but it’s still a thousand percentage points less stressful than my old one.

So that’s what’s going on, in a nutshell.

Links du Jour

Tina — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An exegesis

The term “Fascist” has been so diluted. No one understands it any more. That’s why fascist is now the word of the day… starting with this essay explaining the word, its use and how it’s misunderstood.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: fascism, primer, rush limbaugh, america

Eco - “Eternal Fascism: 14 Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt”

Umberto. Eco. This is an excerpt, but it still does a pretty damned good job of dissecting the fascist M.O.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: fascism, umberto eco, blackshirts, utne reader

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:59:47 +0000

YouTube - dancing walrus

Walrus dancing on “Smooth Criminal”

I know this is the height of cheesy, but it’s just so damned great.

Tags: “michael, jackson”, humor, walrus

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right : NPR

“Julio Diaz ends his daily subway commute one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. One evening, his routine was broken when a teenage mugger took his wallet at knifepoint. But neither of them could have predicted what happened next.”

Wow. Just… wow.

Tags: “good, samaritan”

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:59:53 +0000

The Sinner’s Guide to the Evangelical Right

There’s just too much good material here o describe it well– just go there and read it. All of it.

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:00:35 +0000

Geek To Live: Getting Things Done with Google Notebook

Fans and followers of the Getting Things Done personal productivity system have hacked all sorts of ways to GTD in

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:00:19 +0000

American Civil Liberties Union–Hutto Immigration Detention Center

I thought I was waking up in the United States. Turns out, I was wrong.

Tags: “immigration, “unlawful, “children, aclu, detention”, rights”, imprisoned”

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:59:44 +0000

Body Loving, by Karris Golden

Body acceptance, Lutheran style. The message? Love yourself, because God loves you. Be a positive mentor by accepting your body.

Tags: “body, “health, acceptance”, christianity, size”, spirituality, any, at

Religion Dispatches - Let Them Be

“Told that a group of prostituted women were praying the novena to bring a lot of customers for the night, [Sister Sol] is reported to have said: Hayaan mo lnag sila. (Let them be).”

Tags: “living, “reproductive, “sex, catholicism, christianity, feminism, rights”, safety”, saints”, spirituality, worker

This is Not a Religion Column: Christian Candidate Quiz Bowl

Got an issue with candidates spouting off about how tight they are with Jesus? Call ‘em on it and call ‘em out.

“It’s time to take political faith seriously. And if doing so strikes you as invasive, unseemly, and irrelevant to the job the candidates are seeking–well, then, it’s really time to take faith seriously, including its uses and abuses in a democracy where piety and cynicism have long been comfortable companions.”

Tags: “separation, politics, religion, and, church, hypocrasy, of, primaries, state”

McCain’s Prosperity Preacher

Another article from Religion Dispatches–just bookmark the whole damned site, already.

Sarah Posner takes on the gospel of prosperity, John McCain, John Hagee and Ohio’s favorite hypocrite: Rod Parsley. Why I’m not taking a ride on the “Straight Talk Express.”

Tags: “gospel, “rod, hypocrisy, mccain, parsley”, politics, prosperity”, religion, televangelists, of

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:01:03 +0000

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip - Allrecipes

An economical version of an old-favorite sandwich. It is made of rump roast simmered for 7 hours with beef broth, onion soup and beer. The reduced cooking liquid makes plenty of sauce for dipping.

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:00:47 +0000

Are Kids Copying Their Parents When They Lie? — New York Magazine

From New York Magazine: “Kids lie early, often, and for all sorts of reasons—to avoid punishment, to bond with friends, to gain a sense of control. But now there’s a singular theory for one way this habit develops: They are just copying their parents.”

Tags: kids, lying, study

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:00:10 +0000

YouTube - Bitch is the new black

Tina Fey on Hillary Clinton.

Tags: “hillary, “saturday, “tina, clinton”, fey”, humor, live”, night, politics

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 08:00:19 +0000

“Fuck off I’m Reading” Bookmark on Flickr

Just obscene enough to make me want to make a schload of them for friends and family.

Tags: “cross, pattern, bookmark, stitch”

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:00:17 +0000

Hello Kitty AR-15 - evil black rifle meets cute and cuddly

Wrong on just so many levels.

Tags: “hello, gun, kitty”

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:01:11 +0000

Cooks.com - Recipe - Chicken Divon

Chicken Divon

Tags: chicken, divon

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:00:02 +0000

Dutch Babies | Baking Bites

Dutch Baby pancakes. Yum!

Tags: “dutch, “oven, babies”, pancakes”, breakfast, cooking, pancakes

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:01:16 +0000

Round or Pinwheel Baby Blanket

looks very cool… and deceptively easy. I may just have to try this one

Tags: blanket, knitting

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:02:01 +0000

RulesofThumb.org - Homepage

Very cool–rules of thumb for nearly everything.

Tags: “rules, thumb”, of

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:00:16 +0000

Sock Dreams ~ unique sexy comfy socks for unique sexy people

Socks. I need ‘em. Hence, cool sock website.

Tags: socks

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:00:56 +0000

Anxiety - Lightweight To-do Management

Something new to try:

Anxiety - The lightweight to-do manager for Mac OS X Leopard.

Tags: “to, leopard, do”, donationware, freeware, gtd, mac, software

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:01:59 +0000

Simply Recipes: Peppermint Bark Recipe

From me: “Mmmm… peppermint bark….” Cue drools ala Homer Simpson.

From the site: “Holiday peppermint bark recipe, perfect for Christmas gift giving. Crumbled peppermints pressed into melted chocolate and cooled until hard.”

Tags: “peppermint, bark”, candy, chocolate, recipe

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:01:48 +0000

How to Spot a Cylon - Boing Boing

Buy this poster. Just to be on the safe side.

Tags: battlestar, cylon, galactica

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 08:02:34 +0000

favikon

Do you know what a favicon is? Want one? Upload images, crop them, and create favicons for free!

Tags: design, favicon, free, utility, web

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:03:49 +0000

Bonfire of the Disney Princesses

All I can say is, I have a three and a half year old girl. She has princess sheet. I’ll go hang my head in shame now.

Tags: capitalism, disney, feminism, marketing

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:03:19 +0000

Catalog Choice - Eliminate unwanted catalogs you receive in the mail

I get way too many catalogs. I didn’t buy anything from most of the companies, I just started getting them. Catalog Choice is helping me tell these companies to bugger off.

Tags: “cancel, catalog, catalogs”, choice, environment

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:02:22 +0000

Who Needs Friends…

When you have pens! A website dedicated to pens. Quite a few cool ones on here, too.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: pens, art, writing, graphics

Pandagon :: Another Huckabee quote for the ages: marriage equality will destroy civilization :: December :: 2007

I definitely do not “heart” Huckabee.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: huckabee, bigot, candidate, republican, politics, gay marriage, marriage equality, homophobia

Whedonesque : Comments on 13271 : Let’s Watch A Girl Get Beaten To Death.

Joss Whedon’s diatribe on inhuman acts. It’s a little old (May ‘07), but still very much worth reading.

The line between horribly violent and unecessary fiction (read: sicko wish-fulfillment) and reality has been blurred far too often as of late.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: joss, whedon, feminism, misogyny

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Daily Distractions

Tina — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:54:04 +0000

the-message-2.jpg (JPEG Image, 408×478 pixels)

SecondRotation - Sell Your Old Cell Phone, Game Console

Sell Your Old Powerbook, Cell Phone, Digital Camera and More. Earn Some Cash and Save the World!

Tags: handy

Who Needs Friends…

When you have pens! A website dedicated to pens. Quite a few cool ones on here, too.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Tags: pens, art, writing, graphics

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Cleveland makes the big news

Tina — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:04:53 +0000

Hey kids, want to read something scary? Just head on over to the New York Times for some good old fashioned scary news, coming at you straight from the Lake: Can the Mortgage Crisis Swallow a Town?. Why is this so terrifying? Because it’s true, it’s real, and it’s happening right here.

Honestly, it’s a little disappointing to hear that you really can’t afford as much house as you thought you could. It’s tempting to take the offer that will get you more, even if it may come back to bite you in the ass. I’ll be honest–I thought we’d be able to afford a lot more than we were able to when we looked four years ago, but once we realized what our monthly payments would be, we started aiming a little lower. Of course, not everyone had people looking out for them like our realtor–she was the first one who suggested that we were far out of our price range.

Four years later, we’re ready to get the hell out, as are at least four other households on our block. It could be that we’ve outgrown our house, that it’s on an extremely busy street, that my daughter can’t play outside, or that one of the neighboring houses has a residential count that defies noise ordinances, basic manners, and all laws of physics (oh… did I mention the neglected pit bull pup in their back yard?). Honestly, I don’t know how many people stay next door (I don’t say live, because being crammed into a three-bedroom bungalow like that ain’t living), but it’s a hell of a lot more people than that house was built to shelter. Our house has gone from being a little slice of our own heaven to hell in four years, and only part of it has to do with the scary article in the Times. A lot of it has to do with the state of our city as well.

The crime rate is going up. People are trying to move out and getting trapped by the fear of paying two mortgages at once (and that’s a very real possibility that could really crush a person’s/family’s financial well being), and Cleveland is looking less and less desirable. Just ask my other neighbor, who has had his house burglarized over five times (realistically I’d say around eight, but I’m not sure) by the same people, who have never even been brought in for questioning. The last time he was burglarized, the cops wouldn’t come out–serial burglary doesn’t rate as high when you’ve got drug dealing, gang shootings, domestic abuse cases, and everything else to deal with and not nearly enough officers to handle it all.

It’s more than I can cope with–and judging from the realty signs, more than a few of my neighbors agree. Cleveland was a wonderful place to live, but it’s going downhill and fixing it isn’t glamorous enough to get Frank Jackson or any of our city council members airtime. Taking on the banks, fixing the schools and public services is a hell of a lot harder than offering up a few soundbites, so I doubt most of our officials would be interested in the first place.

Quite honestly, after living here, all I want is a farm out in the boonies with a half mile between me and the closest neighbor. Cleveland, I’ll remember to visit you. Right now it’s time to pack.

The insidious danger of danger

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:57:18 +0000

The insidious danger of danger

Think that being a woman online means that you have to be a shrinking, anonymous, violet? WRONG.

If you’re one of those people who thinks that women need to protect themselves more than men for the sheer reason of their sex, turn off your television, read this opinion piece and do some soul searching.