on a lighter note...

mil and i spent the holiday weekend (and mil's first weekend sans homework) with my folks in the wilds of westchester. as an added bonus my grandmother was in town for a brief visit. i hadn't seen grammie since she was diagnosed with alzheimers a few months ago. i was prepared for the worst. between her poor hearing, breaking her back trying to move a couch, and her fading memory, i was expecting a shadow of the dynamo she once was. well, despite losing a couple of inches in a height and a bite-sized chunk of her joie de vivre, she's still the same sassy dame i met a few days out of the womb. her tap dancing days might be numbered, but it seems her ping-pong days have just begun. you've never seen a nonagenarian with such a wicked back-hand. i'm afraid that she'll be wiping the table with me next time she's in town (perhaps not a difficult thing, but embarassing nonetheless...).

***
in other news, my old buddy from my days in a wheelbarrow has had her baby... unfortunately, she's a continent away, so i have to wait to meet him in person. from what i can see, he's quite a cutie though!

memorial day

Displaced meaning.
Originally uploaded by Evan Lane.

it's difficult to know exactly how to be patriotic these days. so far today, i've been reminded of this devastating war more times than i can count... in the recently revealed massacre of an iraqi family by american troops... the story about pat tillman being killed in "friendly fire" instead of by taliban troops... the death of soldiers, members of the media, and more iraqis in a day that is to be set aside for rememberance... not to mention the physical and psychological trauma of those who've made it home... and those who will never see a loved one again thanks to an unnecessary war. despite this war which makes me question my country's leaders and fear the worst for the future of the middle east (and america), i am thankful. i am thankful to the many men and women who have volunteered their service and their lives for the freedom that many of us take for granted. despite the fallibility of our leaders, there are people who are so proud of what this country stands for that they will risk their lives for it when many of us (myself included) are happy to enjoy our hot dogs and apple pie with our families and let others fight for our right to do so. i only hope that through my life and my work, i can help justify those sacrifices.

hillary

lately, i've begun thinking about the 2008 presidential election. it's still a few years off, but i need to have something to look forward to. (yes, i'm looking forward to this year's election as well, but i won't be able to rest easy until the bush is out of office.) perhaps i'm wrong, but it looks like hillary is the front-runner for the democratic nomination at this point in time. of course, 2008 is a long way off, and a great deal can happen before the democratic primary. the media circus is already beginning. we all remember the infamous howl that ended the dean campaign. though i think we can trust that hillary won't show such ebullience.

so, who is hillary? is she someone we can trust? (is there any politician that can be trusted?) is she a human being first and a politician second? will she stand up for the values of the democratic party: freedom of speech, reproductive rights, equality for all, and nationwide healthcare? why did she vote for the war in iraq? why did she denigrate young people? what does she stand for? these are all good questions and important questions to ask of a potential candidate. but my concern is that these questions are all secondary in the minds of the public. first and foremost in people's minds is the fact that she's female. if she were male, and all of the facts remained the same -- she stood by her spouse after a very public affair, she voted for the war in iraq, and she said that young people were lazy and needed to shape-up to help america compete in the new global economy -- (s)he would be a shoe-in for the democratic nomination. all of these matters would be debated briefly, and the fact that she's a brilliant, eloquent politician would remain behind. but because she's female, her motives have been questioned over and over again, and small issues that should not impact her nomination (namely the fact that she stood by bill after the lewinsky scandal), become all consuming in the public debate.

i'm still not sure how i feel about hillary as president -- i don't really trust her (but then again i don't really trust any politician), but i also don't know if there is a more qualified individual out there. i'd love to hear what others have to say. there is definitely more to the argument than what i have mentioned here, but my gut feeling is that if she had grey hair and a penis she wouldn't be subject to the same kind of scrutiny she's experiencing right now.

let the job hunting begin!

so, i've applied to my first real job. (thanks to ab for his resume review.) it was for a research associate position at a nonprofit focused on promoting women in the workforce. i actually felt that it was fate stepping in to intervene in my whole internal career debate. lately, as i've begun to think about my future as a working mother, i've also been thinking a great deal about the plight of the working woman and the working parent. it seemed quite fortuitous that as i flipped to pbs on saturday morning that there was a debate about the cdc designating all women capable of conceiving a child as "pre-pregnant" that caught my eye. shortly thereafter, there was a discussion of women lawyers making partner in far fewer numbers than expected that was based on research by an organization focused on advancing women in the workplace. sure enough when i checked their website, they were looking to fill a position in nyc at just my level. now i have to just wait and see if fate will continue to help by guiding my resume into the the proper hands. i rarely hear of anyone getting a position without an internal contact, but who knows.

of course this doesn't end the debate -- at least until i have a viable offer, but at least it gives me some ideas of careers outside of the typical msw route.

"lost" it

if you had been a fly on the wall in the milmoosk household wednesday night, you would surely not be here now. proof positive that highly important regions of mil and moosk's brains have leaked onto our bird-poop stained futon: after enjoying a pleasant dinner with momma moosk at a neighborhood pizzeria, mil and i quietly enter the apartment at about 9:30pm. as soon as the door closed behind us we started singing "lalala... i can't hear you" and dangerously averting our eyes from the general television area while running about the living room accumulating assorted laptops and birds and quickly whisking them into the bedroom where the singing and eye-averting did not cease until the white noise machine was turned on and the simpsons dvd began playing loudly on the laptop.

why the all the hoopla, you ask? well, as you may know, wednesday night was the evening of a much anticipated episode of "lost", and not to be dissuaded from social contact, we agreed to dine with my mother leaving our finicky vcr in charge of capturing lost's moments of answers and intrigue. as dinner ended earlier than expected, we came home with half of the episode left to record. given the destructive proclivities of our vcr, we dared not touch anything within a five foot radius of the television for fear that the vcr would cease recording on sight. that said, mil is nothing if not an anal retentive tv-watcher, so we could not catch so much of a glimpse or syllable of the episode already in progress for fear that it would burn our eyes, ring in our ears, and forever tarnish our "lost" viewing experience. so, there you have it. we've totally and completely lost it... and we're no longer trying to find it.

graduation day

as i walked onto campus today, i was greeted by a sea of powder blue gowns. actually, as the subway hit 96th street, hundreds of well-dressed parents and significant others boarded the local train, leaving little room for breathing, let alone knitting. i was quickly reminded that today is graduation day. today should be my graduation day, but alas, i have two and a half more months of class an internship, and have to wait until october to actually get my degree. rather than walking down the steps in my cap and gown (that doesn't look all that much different from the one i wore seven years ago), i will be walking down the steps to the subway to head to brooklyn for the day. rather than sitting in the sun listening to some "words of wisdom" from the university president, i'll be holed-up in my dark, little office listening to an adolescent's hopes and fears... i guess i'd rather take the latter. far more interesting.

immigration... shmimmigration...

that's what i think. mil and i took a few moments to watch senor bush attempt political slight-of-hand with this immigration nonsense. of course, after about two minutes of listening to that boob talk, our telivision practically changed its own channel. there are many good political discussions that tackle this issue at face value, but my whole gripe is why now? why this? illegal immigration is not a new issue or an immediate threat -- at least as far as i'm aware... why 6,000 national guards (or 156,000 over the course of a year)? why not just take the time to increase the ranks of the border patrol whose job it is to make sure our country's border is not porous? my answer: because that will not grab media attention. the president is currently under a major diversion campaign to distract the country from the horrible situation in iraq, the administration's slow, steady attack on americans' personal privacy, and the government's inability to protect us from the effects of terrorism or natural disaster.

i (heart) pbs

this weekend, while putting the finishing touches on the cutest baby outfit ever (d, if you're reading this, you're not allowed to click on the link), i learned how to make homemade gnocchi with pesto sauce and the basics of string theory. rainy weekends force me to hibernate, and basic cable doesn't allow me the opportunity to watch cartoons all day, so i was all about the public broadcasting service. who know that i would get to watch a world-famous physicist from my own alma mater, speak in laymen's terms (with funky, 3-d graphics for those of us with short attention spans) about the theory of everything. i learned that the physical theories that predict the behavior of subatomic particles do not agree with einstein's theory of relatively, and that while string theory actually encompasses both, it cannot be proven experimentally. pretty cool shit. a couple of weekends before, i learned that pollution might actually be protecting us from the full effects of global warming. all of this means that if mil and i become more liquid in future years, i might still avoid the temptation of digital cable and tivo. here's to hoping i stay strong.

fortunately, basic cable does allow some mindless entertainment as well. last night, mil impulsively switched to abc after "american dad" concluded and i set my sights on bed. but i was quickly sucked into the ridiculous plotline of "grey's anatomy"'s season finale. i mean come on -- an anal retentive medical student is going to break the hippocratic oath, easily risk any future medical career and her "boyfriend's" life, just to get him this heart... absolutely and thoroughly ridiculous... i've seen more realistic plotlines on "all my children", and yet, i'll likely be watching the conclusion tonight... no willpower.

i've discovered...

the mental elastic that used to pull my brain back to task after brief diversions (or interruptions) has worn through. anyone know a good seamstress?

delayed reaction

David Blaine makes "eye" contact
Originally uploaded by NYCArthur.

i had intended to blog about this earlier this week, but it turned into quite an insane few days... i'm just now catching up. for the first time mil and i decided to watch a david blaine stunt on tv. i don't know what provoked us, perhaps the proximity of the action and the fact that both of us were too lazy to wander the few blocks to take a peek.

first thing i should mention, in case there is any doubt about my general opinion, is that i think the stunt was stupid. to think that after 7 days of being fully submerged underwater -- which can and did have untold effects on his body -- you could hold your breath longer than the world record holder is simply narcissistic. i imagine the world record holder didn't just decide one day that he would try to hold his breath for 9 minutes and do it. he trained his body and his mind for the task and performed it while in peak condition. it was foolhardy of blaine to think that he had some special abilities above and beyond the common many just because he trained with the navy seals...

anyway, my real bone of contention with blaine is that he was putting his body through strain and physical peril for the sake of entertainment. it was merely coincidental that he attempted his "trick" a day after my father took a rather grim tumble from his bicycle, giving my mother, mil, and myself several moments of envisioning him dying on a bike path in front of us in the middle of nowhere. this experience gave me little patience for the foolish prankster risking his health and possibly his life in a fishbowl next door. i thought of the miners trapped in a toxic cave, facing imminent death, while this healthy young man used his body in a pubescent display for the masses.

then again, i was one of the masses... i could say that i was curious to see if he was really risking his life in this attempt or simply entertaining us with a magic trick. but in reality, i was just hoping to see a money shot of his terrible back-ne. no luck... i turned the television off as baine's ambulance rushed by our apartment.

not to put too fine a point on it

for some reason whenever i see that line, hear that line, or even hear something remotely resembling "too fine a point", i can't help but hear the entire lyrics to "birdhouse in your soul." ...not to put too fine a point on it, say i'm the only bee in your bonnet, make a little birdhouse in your soul... admit it, it happens to you, too, right? i can't be the only one.
**
anyway, on this occasion, the context of this line was an article in the times about contraception, and the emerging battle against it. apparently, abortion is only the tip of the iceberg. crazy christians (because "fundamentalist" just doesn't begin to cover it) are now planning to roll us back to the times of abelard and heloise when sex -- even within marriage -- was frowned upon except for the sole purpose of procreation. because as we all know sex is the real problem with america today. hey, i whole-heartedly agree that contraception is not everything it's cracked up to be. women can still get pregnant, and some thoroughly unwelcome diseases can still make their way past nonoxynol-9. what i don't get is the conservative theory that if we discourage use of contraceptives and abortion by making them harder to get and harder to learn about, then young people are less likely to be promiscuous. perhaps these people have thoroughly forgotten their adolscent libidos, but from my recollection, many of my peers had a healthy fear of pregnancy and stds, but they were still willing to gamble it all on a few moments of pleasure. fortunately, most of my friends had had a good sex ed class before that time, so they knew enough to wear condoms, and most of them made it through without an unintended pregnancy or a life-threatening std.

!*%$#@& heels!

i don't know what sadistic, cheuvanistic crap-bag of a human being invented high heels, but let it be known that i, moosk, don't like you. i know, such vehement words... but they are deserved. this morning as i happily considered the beautiful phrase: high around 80 degrees. i quickly dashed to my closet to find the most summery of summer skirts. i found a lovely white, a-line skirt with dapper black stitching -- short, but not improper. proud of my accomplishment (as a long-time private school kid, fashion is not my forte), i reached to the back of my closet to blow the dust off of some appropriately summer-y shoes. i pondered my selection... dainty little white sandals with a slight heel or more clunky, cushiony gold sandals with more comfort and slightly more heel. of course i went for the white ones with a little push from the hubs ("you know which ones go better... but don't listen to me..."). mere moments after stepping onto the cracked sidewalks of new york, i regretted my decision. the tendons in my shins were aching with the effort and little red welts began to line the outsides of my toes... not to mention the clack-clack-clack of the shoe-heels being propelled groundward before the rest of my foot. so that brings me to now... about 4:05 in the afternoon and walking around my office barefoot. i'm not quite sure how i am going to make it home, but lord knows i will complain about it. and, sick man, (it was most definitely a man) who conjured up these attractive little torture devices, let me say this: i don't like you.

marriagehood

sunday evening during something approximating dinner preparations --
mil: that's it! the ass effect!
moosk: so that's what goes on in your brain when it's not full of organic
chemistry transformations?
mil: pretty much

flashback to saturday morning --
mil: saturday night live should really make fun of these axe effect commercials. they're ripe for mockery.
moosk: they are?
mil: yeah, they could have it so that the guy walks down the street, and only
ugly women are attracted to him.
moosk: or little old ladies...
mil: or gay guys...

nostalgia

before i return to my rousing game of "make some sh*t up," i wanted to let those of you who care know that i made a brief, celebratory visit to amcaf this evening. some of my classmates handed in their final paper of their msw careers, and we thought it was a good occasion to drink to the end of the world's most painfully boring class ever. "a toast to fighting every instinct in my body and NOT allowing my brain to succumb to sleep for an entire semester!" my classmates apparently got a great kick out of my unwitting imitation of the girl in ferris bueller's class who can't keep her eyes open. anyway, for those who haven't been, i must say that while the drinks aren't much better than they were oh so many years ago, the ambience at amcaf is thoroughly unrecognizeable. apparently, we were drinking in the "lounge." can any of you picture the word "lounge" having anything to do with the old dirty amcaf? neither can i? it was hard to put together the image i have of various friends (who shall remain nameless) getting shellacked on cheap pitchers of beer at what is now a trendy-looking tapas bar that serves leechi martinis.

ß∂Ω† 77771 7./

head crashing on keyboard... hope to return to the land of the living later this week...sٶisdr762 4l.
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