March Madness

Anyone college basketball tournament averse (or just plain old oblivious or not interested) and who may have a guilty obsession with celebrity fashion faux pas, this link is for you! These outfits give madness a whole new meaning. Now you don’t have to feel left out of all the bracket fun!

Silent Movie Benefit

Matt and I first learned about the silent film benefit on Catalina Island when I took him there on a day trip for his 30th birthday. Ever since, we’ve planned on going back to catch it. And, every year, for one reason or another, we haven’t been able to make it. I was very disappointed to find out today that, this year, they’re holding it on May 17th, the same day we’ve scheduled our Ohio wedding reception. (C’est la vie, eh?) They’re featuring the art deco classic Metropolis by Fritz

Lang, so try to catch it if you can! It won't really make up for missing the benefit, but we'll be recording some silent movies off of TCM as consolation. They have Silent Sunday Nights @ midnight (EST).

Lamentations of a Non-Vegetarian

I often feel pangs of guilt when reminded that animals often die for the sake of my diet. It’s all too easy to pick up a package of meat at the grocery store and disconnect myself from the processes necessary to get that package there. I don’t eat pork, but, sadly, not for ethical reasons; I just don’t like the taste of things like ham and bacon. And I’ve never been a huge fan of red meat; in fact, I did without it for 15 years. But I’ve never been a vegetarian. On paper, it seems like an easy enough decision to make, but, from time to time, I have fierce hankerings for a medium-rare filet mignon, a boatload of sushi, or chicken fresh off the grill. I wish I could be bigger than my cravings, and this is one of my eternal inner shames. Who knows, some day that shame might get the better of me and I’ll turn over a new vegetarian leaf (har-har). In the meantime, I’ve decided the least I can do is make sure I do the next best thing – eat meat less often and purchase only meats and dairy products from companies/farms that operate using humane practices. It’s not the ideal, but at least it’s something. And I share this thought with you in case it encourages you to do the same. (Apologies to my vegetarian friends who are the choir to my preaching.)

International Women's Day

Women have made great strides over the past century to achieve equal rights, opportunities, and protections against maltreatment. I’m very grateful to the brave and brilliant women who have come before me who blazed that trail, making it possible for me to live the life that I do. On Saturday, International Women’s Day, I think we should all take a moment to appreciate those women – both the famous and the personal female role models in our lives – and perhaps make a commitment to take action on initiatives that will further our progress. It can be as simple as calling your aunt and thanking her for teaching you that women can be successful in the science professions or calling (301-443-1083), writing a letter (address below) to, or e-mailing Robert McSwain, Director of Indian Health Services, to demand quality health care for Native American and Alaska native women (1 in 3 is raped in her lifetime).

Sadly, it’s easy to take for granted all that has been achieved in the name of women’s rights, especially in the United States where things aren’t anywhere near as bad as they still are in many other regions of the world (e.g., dangerous, life-threatening female genital cutting is still practiced in the name of tradition in some regions of the world). We can’t forget that our fellow women come from all countries, all walks of life, and many of them do not yet enjoy the rights, opportunities, or protections against maltreatment that we do; and we can’t forget that, even though we may have made great strides in the United States, we still have obstacles to overcome here as well, like the “glass ceiling” in the workplace. In short, our work is not done, sisters!

IHS Address:

Indian Health Service (HQ)
The Reyes Building
801 Thompson Avenue, Ste. 400
Rockville, MD 20852-1627

Additional info on events and actions can be found via the following links:

Amnesty International’s Women’s Human Rights

National Organization for Women

Famous Feminists

Test your knowledge of famous female feminists.

Follicular-ly Challenged

I found out the hard way that my eyelash curler was broken . . . when it sheared off several of my eyelashes down to the root. (Oh Revlon, you will PAY!) My husband and friends claim they couldn’t tell if I didn’t point it out, but that hasn’t stopped me from feeling like that guy who got really drunk at the frat party and had one of his eyebrows shaved off after he passed out. >>
Except that guy can at least blame someone else for how ridiculous he looks. To compliment this new look, I’m also sporting the most vicious cowlick you’ve ever seen on the back of my head (more like a permanent part, actually), made more obvious by my new short haircut. After having seen that god-awful TV miniseries Tin Man (based on The Wizard of Oz), I can’t help but think of Alan Cumming’s character Glitch’s “haircut” (yes, that's a zipper).

Rebuilding Together

Rebuilding Together is a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve affordable housing by bringing volunteers and communities together to rehabilitate the homes of low-income homeowners. I have a big soft spot in my heart for this organization because Matt and I became involved with them very early on in our relationship, back when we were living in Pasadena. It meant a lot to me to be able to help out the family whose house we were working on, but it also provided a window into Matt’s character, giving me one of the first clues that he was “a keeper.”

The Ventura affiliate of RT will be working on a project in Simi Valley on Saturday, May 3rd. Matt and I will have his sister visiting from out of town that weekend, so it’s not likely I’ll be able to participate in that project as I’d hoped, but I thought I’d pass on the information in case anyone else local would be interested in getting involved. The person to contact for details is:

509 Daily Drive
Camarillo, CA 93010
Office: 805.492.1054
Fax: 805.230.2825
fprince@roadrunner.com

ALSO, if you don’t live in the Ventura County, California area but are still interested in doing something like this, check out RT’s website to search for an affiliate chapter in your area (they have over 200 affiliate offices nationwide).

Each RT branch works in conjunction with local sponsors to gain funding for supplies, but they have also established some high-profile national partnerships as well. For instance, they recently joined up with HGTV to work on their “Change the World” campaign, which you can read more about at HGTV’s website.