Crab Casa of Love

I couldn't sleep last night

2008-09-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

Out of my blogging hybernation to say...
Here is how Sarah Palin's speech "stretched the truth" last night:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check;_ylt=An843g3g.OdQXwXQIXoMMkZh24cA

But people don't care about that. They care that the evil media are picking on her....so much that they are now going to vote for McCain because of it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20080904/pl_rasmussen/palinmedia20080904;_ylt=AtGuw3GLWBDmOrETiwVw1i9h24cA

Meanwhile, people get to refer to Sen. Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" and call a loving gesture toward his wife a "terrorist fist jab."Boo hoo all around.

Brasilian Christmas

2006-12-01T06:42:00.000-05:00

So we selected our country for this year's Christmas feast. BRASIL! Can anyone say caipirinhas?

Very excited to learn some Brasilian recipes. We'll also be having some Costa Rican contributions to the meal, courtesy of Meli. This is definitely going to be good. Plus, it gives me an excuse to buy Sergio Mendes' new Cd and a yellow and green thong. Okay, maybe not the thong...

The day after Nov. 7

2006-11-23T05:06:00.000-05:00

Can I get a woot woot!?

Wal-Mart makes me ill

2006-10-11T13:34:00.000-04:00

Check out this tidbit:

Wal-Mart's launch of a new kind of "wish list" Christmas site for children has drawn the ire of consumer advocates. "If you show us what you want on your list, we'll blast it off to your parents," says an animated holiday elf named Wally who guides children through a seemingly endless conveyor belt of toys on the retailer's website. Children who click a "yes" button to have a product e-mailed to their parents hear a round of applause. If they click the "no" button, the rejected toy gets boxed up and unceremoniously sent to a dump truck. The animated Wally, and his elf friend Mary, characters with quirky accents and irreverent attitudes, are also the stars of an upcoming 60-second, 3-D spot that will run in cinemas this holiday season, and they will also appear in TV spots and in a special comic book that will be sent to children who visit the website of the nation's largest toy retailer. Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is launching a letter-writing campaign among its 7,000 members asking Wal-Mart to close down the site. "Families have a hard enough time navigating holiday commercialism without the world's largest retailer bypassing parents entirely and urging children to nag," said Susan Linn, co-founder. "For a company that purports to be family-friendly and promote family values it's very disrespectful of both parents and children."

Vomit

Is Mercury in retrograde AGAIN??

2006-10-05T03:27:00.000-04:00

I don't know. It seems like everything that could go wrong is going wrong. Everything, it seems, is a challenge lately. Like, we still don't have drinkable water at our house, and every few days we have to rechlorinate the well, which means we can't use water AT ALL for 3 days...which means we have to shower at friends' houses and/or we smell, we have to wash dishes with water from the neighbor's garden hose, and simple things like brushing teeth are a major challenge. It's all been really difficult because Azalea is in the final stages of potty learning and she can't wash her hands with the cool Kandoo foamy pump soap afterwards (which is definitely an incentive!). You know things are bad when you are reading hygiene manuals from rural communities in developing countries (where there is no running water/indoor plumbing/etc.) to get household hints...

I digress. So then we actually get hit by a tornado. Yes, a tornado. And the one and only tree in our backyard is plucked out of the ground -- roots and all -- and slammed on top of our shed. We're talking an 80 foot tree, here. We also lost part of our siding and the tree by our mailboxes, but we actually fared WAY better than a lot of people whose homes are completely trashed. About 20 houses were condemned, and tons more had damage like trees in their living rooms, collapsed decks and porches, rooves blown off, etc. So we were really lucky. But I have to say, though, that I don't ever want to have my kids cry over weather again.

Then there are the more minor things in the "everything that can go wrong, goes wrong" category. Like I smashed the side-view mirror off of the car, scraped the side of the car in a garage and got 3 speeding tickets in 1 month. One of Craig's crowns broke off while we were 7 hours away from home at a wedding (note to self: avoid Starburst candies), which was the same weekend he lost his wallet.

And don't get me started on work. Things like technology REPEATEDLY not functioning under deadlines to the point that my boss might think I am a pathological liar or that I have some other type of creepy pathology. Or just that I'm incompetent. I don't know what's worse.

I feel bad complaining about all of this, because it's such small potatoes compared to so many other things that could be going wrong in our lives.

Shame on me.

Blogging

2006-09-14T04:09:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about blogs a lot lately for work, so I started poking around the blogosphere and came across so many interesting blogs. bloggity blog blog blog. I wonder if there's someone at AOL or Google whose full-time job is to read blogs all day (and night). Full-time blog reader. I'm sure that's a position now.

Here is one I liked, mostly because I think PR is interesting. http://theflack.blogspot.com/

Mercury in Retrograde

2006-07-21T00:33:00.000-04:00

That's what is going on right now. Mercury is in retrograde and is causing all sorts of bad mojo. Lots of misunderstandings and communication glitches. All I know is that our water system isn't working and I'm probably going to have to shower at a neighbor's house tomorrow morning. I'm not even going to get into all the other stuff that's really bugging me right now, but most of them relate to something that begins with W, ends with K and rhymes with "smirk."

Here we go again -- Iraq War Symposium, Part II

2006-07-02T02:24:00.000-04:00

Don't ask me how I got roped into this again, but I'm working on another Iraq War Symposium. This one will likely take place by the end of August, and is mainly intended to be used as a tool to garner media attention to how godawful this whole thing is going.

We're also thinking of holding a screening of The War Tapes, which I haven't seen (it just opened on June 30). Simple concept: Give soldiers video cameras. Tell them to shoot their everyday life. Even if it's boring. Capture life and death and everything in between. We think we can get one or two of the 'filmmakers' to have a panel discussion afterwards, because one of the producers is friends with Paul Rieckhoff, the head of IAVA/OpTruth. Rieckhoff pretty much said he would come and participate in our symposium again this year, which is fab news. He was easily the best thing about last year's event. Love him! (Even though when I was talking to him, all I could think about was how frickin huge his fingers were! I know, weird. It reminded me of my EMT days when I had to cut rings off of people's grostequely swollen/broken fingers. But his fingers weren't broken. That was their normal size.)

I was at the library today and I saw his book prominently featured among all the "cool summer reads"! And this was at the Severna Park library! I hope it's not there the next time I go, because people in SP really need to read it... It's called Chasing Ghosts (http://paulrieckhoff.com/home/index.asp) and I'd better read it before the end of August so that I don't embarrass myself. It's basically Paul's "gritty" account of serving in Iraq and then returning to the U.S. to fight THE MAN! Right on! [Cue Rage Against the Machine music.]

So -- completely unrelated here -- I had this idea to write a two-sided book -- Why Does The World Hate America? on the front cover and Why Does the World Love America? on the back cover, and the two 'books' would meet in the middle. It would loosely be based on media reports from all over the world, all related to a love or hate of the USA. I initially thought it would be great to do interviews of people across the globe, but...logistical nightmare.

Yeah. Needs work.

More people watch Friends than actually have them

2006-06-26T14:53:00.000-04:00

So this is a great opinion piece on today's Washington Post. It's based on a sociological study about how no one in America has friends anymore because we all isolate ourselves from other humans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/25/AR2006062500566.html

Speaking as someone who tries really hard to keep in touch with people and to maintain friendships as best I can -- with varied success, I have to admit -- it makes me sad. I know we're all busy, but really, when it comes right down to it, what's really important? If we all felt more connected to each other, I would guess we wouldn't have so many instances of 'road rage', crazy coach Dads going on rampages, or random acts of violence. Or maybe I'm just being naive. Yeah, probably.

When life takes over...

2006-04-04T03:21:00.000-04:00

...you don't write in blogs for several months. In addition to being TOTALLY BUSY, every time I thought to write something in the blog, I was worried that someone would read it and be offended. Don't get me wrong, it's not like a lot of people read this blog, but Craig sometimes tells people to check out photos on here, and so I don't want to write anything too alienating. But isn't that one of the points of a blog? To provide a forum for stream-of-consciousness cataloging of thoughts, ideas, etc. -- political correctness be damned?

And then I read about that woman, Washingtonienne, the 20-something Hill staffer who got fired from her job because she did a lot of kissing and telling on her blog. Man, some of that stuff was crazy, like that she took money from a high-ranking (married) Bush Administration official to have sex with him. So that gave me pause, because I was thinking that if ANYONE would lose their job due to blogging, it would be me (in addition to that Dooce woman). I mean, I was fired for an email, so why not for blogging? That's why I definitely don't blog during work hours. Oh, no no no. And that's part of the problem. I always think of stuff during the day, but then I don't feel like I can post during work. And then I go home, get wrapped up with the kids, and pass out in Desi or Azalea's bed after reading them bedtime stories.

So, in a nutshell, here are the main things that have happened since the last blog entry (not in chronological or importance order):

1. We had the H Party on April 1. Still tired, stayed up 'til 6 a.m., Naval Academy boys stayed until 9 p.m. the next night -- after capsizing our canoe in the creek. I fear for the future of our Navy... I will post pics soon, I promise, Laura!

2. I have become obsessed with American Idol again. I don't watch every second (as that is impossible anyway, with 2 small children and no TiVo), but if I don't catch an episode, I have to read about it for hours until 3 a.m. on televisionwithoutpity.com. Elliott is my fave, even though I just got warned/banned from posting on televisionwithoutpity yesterday because I suggested in the Elliott thread that his fans were starting to sound like Claymates. See? Me and the Internet? Bad mojo. Other people talk all kinds of trash on those boards, but I'm the one who gets banned. For Jesus H. Lena.

3. Azalea has been taking swimming classes. When she's not exhausted, she loves it. When she's tired, she cries at the edge of the pool and the instructor has to spend half the class trying to get her to use the noodle.

4. Craig and I saw Queen + Paul Rodgers at MCI/now Verizon Center. Awesome show. Paul Rodgers has a great voice.

5. I became obsessed with the whole "Mommy Wars" concept (SAHM vs. WOHM), and started doing research, along with Kristen, on maybe writing a book to address issues that a lot of these books don't touch. Like what if the woman is the main breadwinner in the family? What if they don't need the Mother's income, but they need her to stay in her job because it provides health care (vs. Dad's job, which doesn't), Walmart?

I have more to add to this list. Later. Like you care.

The "Tipping Point"

2006-01-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

Scary article in the Washington Post about how climate change might be happening so quickly that "within decades, humans may be helpless to slow or reverse the trend."

Here is an excerpt:
One of the greatest dangers lies in the disintegration of the Greenland or West Antarctic ice sheets, which together hold about 20 percent of the fresh water on the planet. If either of the two sheets disintegrates, sea level could rise nearly 20 feet in the course of a couple of centuries, swamping the southern third of Florida and Manhattan up to the middle of Greenwich Village...'The effects of the collapse of either ice sheet would be 'huge'....once you lost one of these ice sheets, there's really no putting it back for thousands of years, if ever.'"

We've all heard these scenarios before, but the scariest part, I thought, was that scientists are admitting now that maybe they underestimated the amount of time it would take for this disastrous siuation to occur. It all seemed like a hundreds and hundreds of years in the future type of thing. But now they're saying it could happen within Azalea and Desi's lifetime, which is FREAKY! And that within 10 years, we may be at the point where we can't do anything about it.

Now, if there was ever a good reason to get the current U.S. administration out of office, this is it!

We need Al Gore and his powerpoint presentation!

I actually want to see that documentary -- I forget the name -- it's about Al Gore travelling around the world giving powerpoint presentations on how important it is to stop global warming immediately, before it's too late. It supposedly got a standing ovation at the Sundance film festival a few weeks ago, which makes me think that the director is one heck of a filmmaker to make Al Gore giving powerpoint presentations worthy of a standing O!

Hodgepodge of more pics from Azalea's birthday...

2006-01-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

No good photos of everyone at once. I guess there are some positives to the painfully staged photographs my mother used to orchestrate at our childhood birthday parties. "Okay, now everyone get together...Tula put your hand on your hip and smile...Elaine, pretend you're kissing the dolly...both of you sit there surrounded by all of your stuffed animals and SMILE...no, wait! Somebody wipe Aristea's face! Okay, we're ready now. Say cheeeeeese! No! Rita, stop hitting Thalia! "

Pics from Isabel's 40th Birthday Brunch

2006-01-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pics from the weekend -- Isabel's 40th birthday brunch at the Latin American Folk Institute! Starring Ms. Gigi! Sadly, no pics of the birthday girl herself, or of gorgeous 7 year old Marina, who is so tall and 'grown-up'. Scott told us that she even has a crush on a boy at her school. Is it my delusional thinking (or revisionist view of childhood), or do kids start this stuff younger these days?

This Blows

2006-01-24T01:33:00.000-05:00

So here is proof that Azalea was obsessed with blowing out birthday candles during the week before her birthday. In the pics, she is blowing out Meli's birthday candles (Meli turned 21 on Jan. 17) and then making us light birthday candles on her dessert the day after that. But then who ended up blowing out her birthday candles on her actual birthday (see previous post)? Mama and Desi.

Wallflower and Her Birthday Cake

2006-01-24T01:06:00.000-05:00

It was Azalea's birthday on Sunday, and she is now THREE years old. Lordy, it seems longer than that. We had a few neighbors over for chili and birthday cake, and shockingly Azalea would not blow out her birthday candles. This floored me, because she has been begging to blow out candles all week now, and then when her big moment came, all she could do was hide her face. At least when no one was looking at her, she managed to break out of her shyness-paralysis and have fun... She also really liked her pink kittykat kake, especially because she helped to make it/decorate/frost it.

I'll have to post more photos later, because there are a few of all the kids playing that are pretty funny.

Avian influenza, my new best friend

2006-01-16T18:59:00.000-05:00

So I have a new job within AED, at least for the next two months. I'm working on various activities for USAID on avian influenza. So I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about how people can keep their chickens away from their ducks -- a very effective way to keep avian flu at bay, if you can believe it. Now farmers just have to keep their kids from playing with bloody chicken heads and we'd all be a lot better off.

Anyway, I came across this article "The bug bloggers: A brigade of self-made bird flu experts is turning the outbreak rumor mill into an online information factory"
about the power of blogs in getting information out when it's needed, mostly because they feel they can't rely on their governments to give them the straight story in a timely fashion. Man, it's a miracle we all survived before this Internets thing came along. Here is the link to the story: http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=jf06harris

It quotes this guy, Paul Revere (that's his blogging pseudonym) who runs a blog called Effect Measure. I met him at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting last December in Philly at a session on how the public health field can use blogs, wikis, etc. to improve the public health. It was pretty inspirational that all these people were trying to start a movement from the ground up -- all these people who had day jobs and wives and kids who were spending countless hours blogging during the wee hours to create a new public health infrastructure (online) to make it easier to mobilize in the event of a pandemic or a bioterrorist event.

I hope it's all worth it. You always hear these stories of people like this who do so much, and then you hear about how they are divorced or how they don't know their kids' names. So maybe I'm exaggerating, but I feel like it's so hard to strike a balance, especially when you are serious about your career and your volunteer work/extracurriculars AND you are raising a family.

I wonder whether all of these impressive people I work with now -- people who have done amazing things in tons of developing countries over the past 25 years -- have done all this while juggling family life, and if so, HOW IN THE WORLD THEY DID IT? (I mean, even as I'm typing this blog post, I've been singing to Azalea and pretending that I'm writing a letter to the dentist -- part of her pretend play right now. She's really into dentists. Go figure. Hopefully she'll still be into them after her first dentist visit at the beginning of February.) I did a lot of stuff too -- when I was single. Not anymore.

Okay, so I know this post is all over the place, but that is the state of my brain these days. I really only wanted to post that bird flu blog article. Now I have to go get dinner out of the oven and get ready to go to a Habitat for Humanity meeting at the church. And then come back home, get the kids to bed, do some housecleaning and work on some avian flu stuff. How do people do this long-term?

Cute pic

2006-01-06T14:31:00.000-05:00

Due to several complaints, I am posting a relatively recent pic of Azalea and Desi. There are also some fun photos from our Christmas celebration and New Year's, but that will come later.

"Treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy..."

2005-12-22T14:42:00.000-05:00

Now here are some good holiday, er, Christmas ideas...

Materialism and greed might ruin your Christmas
by David Batstone (from Sojourners Magazine)

Some Christians this season are boycotting retailers that choose not to use the phrase "Merry Christmas" in advertising. I have been fired up for some time about Christmas commercialism. But the target of my concern is not how a clerk delivers holiday greetings at the check-out stand.

The spiritual foes that I resist this time of the year are materialism and greed. I note the corrosive impact of hypercommercialism on family life, and I don't like it one bit. You can order in wood or plastic the baby Jesus in a manger who had no place to lay his head. But can you find a place for this baby Jesus in your home this Christmas? It's hard to find time to deliver tidings of joy and peace on earth when we're stressed about getting our shopping done before Christmas Day.

My wife, Wendy, and I opted out of the American Christmas package the year our first child was born nearly 15 years ago. In the years ensuing, we brought three more children into our lives. The Christmas tradition we have developed instead is of course not the only proper way to celebrate. Perhaps, though, our effort may spark the imagination of other parents to craft a more spiritual way to remember the birth of Jesus.

For the past 15 years we have put a priority on passing time together as a family during the Christmas holidays. We use the money that other families might spend on gifts and take a trip together. In our experience, getting away from home makes it easier to focus on the family. Staying at home offers too many distractions - for mom and dad to do chores, and for kids to run off with their respective friends.

The trips do not have to be exotic - one year we drove down the California coast to San Diego from our home in San Francisco and went to the zoo. Another year we went farther south to Enseñada, Mexico, where we could frolic in the surf. For the past few years we have driven four hours to the Sierra mountains near Lake Tahoe and played snow sports. Generous friends let us make use of their cabins. One year I had some work to do in Stockholm, Sweden, and we spent three weeks over Christmas and New Year's enjoying the shortest days of our lives - if we slept in too late in the morning we would miss the sunset.

To be honest, I am reticent to recount the Stockholm trip. We got lucky that year, and turned it into a great family opportunity. The Sweden trip took a considerable slice of family investment, but we cut back elsewhere. Like all families, we have to decide where to spend any extra income. We err on the side of creating experiences together, and forego expensive electronics (we don't get TV reception or have a stereo in our home) and new autos (both our cars were born well before the turn of the century). Over the years we have learned that the most significant memories are borne from participatory activities, not the destination.

When the children were young, Wendy and I selected our holiday spot. Now that the kids range from 8 to 15 years old, we have started bringing them into the decision. In early October, a call goes out to the family for proposals. The kids as well as the adults have to map out what our activities will be, and include an affordable budget. Everyone gets a vote on all viable (read: affordable) proposals.

We do buy each of the children one gift, usually related to the site we visit. The year we went to Enseñada, for example, most of the kids received a boogie board for surfing the waves. The kids use their own money to buy a gift for each other as well as for Wendy and I. Often they make creative gifts with their own hands. Our Christmas morning exchange is pretty quick and simple.

Note that we aren't overly righteous. It would be better for us to pass Christmas week with Habitat for Humanity building houses for the homeless, or volunteering in an AIDS hospice. I would be gratified if my kids do opt for such a sacrificial project in the future. But I am cautious not to push my kids too hard. It is countercultural enough to prioritize family time above material goods. One step at a time is a motto I often use to temper myself.

By and large, our kids embrace our family Christmas tradition. Periodically, one or more of them will question why they have to miss out on the gift bonanza that most of their friends reap in this time of year. I don't argue, but simply respond, "Our family has decided to adopt different values." On the other side of the coin, it was gratifying to hear my 13-year-old son say to me last week, "Grandma wants to buy me a gift for Christmas, Dad, and I don't know what to tell her. I don't need anything."

And isn't that the spirit that we sorely need to exercise throughout the year? The dominant culture constantly sends us the message that GE, Apple, Nordstrom, Electronic Arts, and other companies bring good things into life. But Jesus taught that God fills us with all good things, and sends us treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy. It's the kind of conversation that I like to have with my kids when we are away together during the final week of the year. We can retreat and express gratitude for the moments and places we take note of Emmanuel - God with us.

Whatever your family tradition, I wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

For the Person Who Has Everything...

2005-12-15T01:06:00.000-05:00

How about not getting them anything?? I mean, they have EVERYTHING.
The materialism of our society bums me out on a regular basis, but 'tis the season when it really makes me want to swim in a vat of antidepressants dissolved in vodka. Xbox 360? Shut the hell up. I hate it when I read articles or see news reports about parents freaking out because Item X is sold out and OH MY GOD THE KIDS WILL JUST DIE IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE DORA TALKING KITCHEN. Get a grip, people. And while you're at it, tell your kids to get a grip, too.

This year, as in the past couple of years, we are not giving gifts to the adults in our lives (and we are asking that no one give us gifts, either). All of our holiday spending will be going to people who can't afford a holiday dinner, for example. We also asked relatives to not give Azalea and Desi gifts, either, but we realize that's a tough one for people. We suggested that if they wanted to give a gift, they should record themselves reading a story (or telling a story in the oral tradition) so that Azalea and Desi can have a lasting memory of Grandma or Yiayia or Aunt Elaine or whomever (and also give Mama and Daddy a break when we don't feel like reading bedtime stories. Just pop in the tape/CD... hehe). I'm not sure how well that will go over, but we figured it was worth a shot. I mean, do Azalea and Desi really need anything else by Fisher Price?? I don't think so.

Craig and I were talking the other day about how great it would be if people took all the money they spend on (usually) needless gifts for others who already have pretty much all they need, or took all those gifts, and sent them instead to a poor family in Zambia, for example. We were thinking that would be a good nonprofit/charity organization we could start up -- matching Americans with families all over the world in a type of "secret santa" thing (except it wouldn't really be an exchange...). We do this for "needy" families in our community every year, but there are so many people in the world who are way more needy than the neediest of the needy in Pasadena, Maryland. Something to ponder.

Let it Snow!

2005-12-06T00:59:00.000-05:00

We finally got some white stuff that stuck to the ground. Meli, our new au pair from Costa Rica, was really into it. Here are some pics of Meli and Azalea playing outside and making "snowballs" after dinner.

Desario the Birthday Boy

2005-11-24T02:19:00.000-05:00

Desi celebrated his first birthday at Grandma Gwen's house in New Jersey on November 11 (actually he celebrated on Nov. 12, but shhh, no one has to know). Yiayia also came down from New York for the occasion. The weekend in NJ was actually pretty jam-packed. Grandma had a big yard sale, and we all helped with that, and on Sunday, Craig and I went to see the Giants play the Vikings at Giants Stadium. More about that debacle in another post...

My Daughter Went to the 9:30 Club, and All I Got was This Blog Post

2005-11-24T02:04:00.000-05:00

We are playing serious catch-up here. The last time I posted to this blog was mid-October. Sad sad sad. Anyway, Azalea and her Dad went to the 9:30 Club for Azalea's first concert -- Jamarama! with Laurie Bernker and the Ohmies and Milkshake. Practically a Woodstock for the toddler set. Now if only the Wiggles and Sportacus and Stephanie from Lazytown could have been there. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, YOU ARE FORTUNATE. Craig, Meli (our new au pair), and I pretty much have the Lazytown soundtrack pounding through our heads everyday. Anyway, our pal Gigi was also there with her parents; she supposedly is a Laurie Berkner fanatic. I hear Gigi got a "Laurie Forever" tattoo on her ankle after the concert.

Outrage Fatigue

2005-10-11T16:34:00.000-04:00

I was just reading about how the federal budget that is going to be considered by Congress next week is going to wreak havoc on the lives of poor people -- as if their lives aren't already havoc-wreaked. The budget proposes to cut $35 billion from Medicaid and Food Stamps, and to pass new tax cuts of $70 billion, which primarily benefit the wealthy. This is shocking to me, especially since most of us sat and watched the depth of poverty that Hurricane Katrina exposed, and because we know that poverty is unfortunately not exclusive to New Orleans.

I'm getting mentally tired of all of this. I was thinking about the bumper sticker, "If you are not outraged, then you are not paying attention." Maybe I'm paying too much attention. Then I happened to stumble across an amusing article in The Onion, "Nations Liberals Suffering from Outrage Fatigue." (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30624) It's obviously supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek article, but it pretty much sums up my reality. I'm suffering from outrage fatigue! Tell me, what can I take for that?

Drunken Sailor

2005-10-06T01:10:00.000-04:00

Today is a very big day in the Crab Casa. Desi actually walked across the room!!! Previously, he had been taking 5-6 steps max and then falling over, but today he actually looked like a real toddler, doing that cute little drunken sailor walk. Meanwhile, he still doesn't have any teeth. We KNEW he'd end up walking before getting teeth. Personally, I'm glad the teeth haven't come in because I still nurse him occasionally, ifyaknowwhatimean. Now if we could only get Azalea out of pull-ups...

In other news, there is WAY too much going on, as reflected by the lack of posts on this blog in the past couple weeks. More later...

"George Bush Hates People"

2005-09-22T11:43:00.000-04:00

I really have to stop reading progressive news websites. They are starting to freak me out. There was an article on how the Katrina disaster may increase U.S. awareness on climate change, but it will likely not change U.S. (Bush Administration) policy. Here is a tidbit:

The United States, a profligate energy user and where mobility is almost considered a right, accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse-gas emissions. After taking office in 2001, President George W. Bush walked away from the UN's Kyoto Protocol pact to curb the so-called greenhouse-gas emissions, caused by burning oil, gas and coal, which trap solar heat and thus warm Earth's surface. Bush not only questioned the scientific evidence for global warming -- he also said that pledges made by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, would be far too costly for the oil-dependent US economy to implement....The mounting evidence is that global warming is already causing Earth's fragile climate to change -- and hurricanes, pumped up by warmer water in the tropical western Atlantic, may be becoming more vicious and possibly more frequent too....But at present there is almost no talk in the United States about addressing the roots of the problem. Right now, the emphasis is on beefing up coastal zoning regulations and building codes and restoring natural wetland buffers in order to reduce the human toll to hurricane-prone areas...In the mainstream media, no voices are heard that call for tougher gasoline efficiency standards or curbing carbon pollution spewed by coal and oil plants. Americans are "geographically illiterate and historically illiterate," said Troyt York, president of the American Institute of Urban and Regional Affairs, which promotes sustainable development. "If you talk to them about global warming, they have no idea." Bush will remain steadfastly opposed to Kyoto's binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and promote his strategy of a voluntary approach.

As usual, THANKS SO MUCH, George.

Donkey Balloons and Cassandra

2005-09-22T11:20:00.000-04:00

As it turns out, we may have gone to the Anne Arundel County Fair on "Republican Appreciation Night" or something. After I emailed my sad experience to the rest of my MoveOn group, one of the women wrote back saying, "I was at the fair Friday evening from 4-7. Everybody had Dem balloons. We gave out oodles and oodles. We replaced lost balloons and every kid, even the ones in strollers, had a Dem balloon -we must have easily outballooned the Republicans 50 - 1. We had myriad people sporting Dem stickers...We also had a woman change her registration to Dem from Rep while I was there...We may have been too generous with balloons!" Ok, so now we know where all the donkey balloons went.

Speaking of where balloons go, I noticed last week that Trader Joes gives out balloons that are biodegradable. Amazing. I love that store.

I also read a great article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called "We Can't Say We Weren't Warned." http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0921-25.htm It makes the point that Katrina shows how we have neglected environmental concerns for too long. Here is an excerpt:

On this larger issue, the science is perfectly clear. We are dangerously degrading our biosphere, and for decades policy-makers have been warned of the dire consequences of ignoring this systemic environmental decline. As with New Orleans, we are all living on borrowed time. We are rapidly approaching a planetary tipping-point from which there will likely be no recovery. But just as with Katrina, governments have ignored warnings of global ecological collapse as well. How much longer can we afford such shortsighted, selfish ignorance?

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was bestowed the power to foretell the future but no one would believe her. She warned of a Trojan Horse, to no avail. The rest, as they say, is history.

Will we as a society learn from this perfect storm, reaffirm our "respect for nature" and attend to our deteriorating planetary life-support systems before it's too late, or not?

When will we ever learn?

Elephant Balloons

2005-09-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

We went to the Anne Arundel County Fair on Saturday night. Azalea pretty much touched all of the livestock there was to touch, including a few of the blue ribbon winning goats, sheep and cows. All four of us also went on the ferris wheel, and it took all the strength I could muster to keep Desi from wriggling out of my arms and climbing out of the car. Dang, that was scary. We also tried to put Desi in a little car ride with Azalea, but he (as usual) Houdini-ed his way out of the seat belt thingie and stood up in the seat just as the ride started. Luckily, Craig quickly reached over the fence and grabbed him out of the car just as they got going. Okay, so maybe putting Desi on carnival rides isn't a good idea right now. But he did so well at the Rehoboth Beach Amusement Park...

It was also a politically disheartening evening. There was an Anne Arundel Republicans booth and an Anne Arundel Democrats booth. I stopped briefly at the Dems booth to meet Dr. Jim Corwin, one of the guys who is running against Wayne Gilchrest. He seemed very personable and enthusiastic, but was clearly disappointed when I told him I wasn't a registered Democrat (I'm an I).

Both of the booths had stickers and informational flyers, and the Repubs had elephant balloons for the kiddies. Anyway, the Fair was positively filled with people sporting Ehrlich stickers and carrying those darn elephant balloons. I saw only two other people at the whole Fair who had Dem stickers on (and one of them didn't look like she was old enough to vote). It was depressing.

I guess the Dems at the booth got depressed, too, because they had closed up their booth and left by 10 p.m. or so while the Repubs were still there going strong until closing time. (The Dems also ran out of balloons by the time we got there -- I'm hoping it's because so many people took them, but I think the reality is that they didn't bring enough.) Man, I really wanted to bust all of those elephant balloons. Craig started getting annoyed with me because I was so worked up over all of this. But it wasn't just the elephants.

There was also a Confederate Flag paraphernalia booth and tons of people walking around with the Confederate flag on their shirts, on bandanas, etc. I saw one confederate t-shirt that said, "If you're offended by this shirt, you need a history lesson." I really wanted to approach that kid (bucktoothed pimply teenager type) and ask him to give me a history lesson to see how he would justify it. Next time I see that shirt, I'm going to ask the wearer to edumacate me.

Afterwards, I wrote a bummer of an email to my local Moveon group members, telling them about the whole sad experience. If we have any hope of getting rid of Bobby "Ignore the Chesapeake" Ehrlich, keeping Michael "Empty Suit" Steele out of the Senate, or even replacing Wayne "He's been there too long" Gilchrest, we are going to have to bust our bums.

Rock You Like a Hurricane

2005-09-18T23:40:00.000-04:00

Azalea and I went to the White House protest the Administration's slow initial response to Hurricane Katrina -- this was the first weekend following the hurricane, when there were still people stranded in New Orleans and FEMA officials still wandering around scratching their heads.

My old high school friend, Blakely, whom I hadn't seen since high school graduation, was driving down to DC from Michigan to do this protest in front of the White House. At any rate, we had fun agitating Republicans, and Azalea had a nice time dancing barefoot in front of the White House. Blakely and Jay (her boyfriend) had a great experience talking to people, and said that they enountered only 5 people all day who approached them and said that they disagreed. Of course, 2 of those 5 came along while we were there. One of them said something like, "New Orleans has so much money. Those people aren't as poor as you think. They could pay for all the damage from Katrina from money made during Mardi Gras." Yeah, I'm sure that all those people in New Orleans (which has one of the highest rates of people living at or below the poverty line in the country) see a lot of that money that rolls in during Mardi Gras...

Idiots, I tell ya.

An Azalea Sky

2005-09-16T14:07:00.000-04:00

Back in August, we went to Craig's summer-league beach volleyball picnic, where Craig and Lee actually won a first-place trophy! But one of the best parts of the evening was the amazing sky/sunset we experienced while we were there.

Ride 'em

2005-08-24T17:04:00.000-04:00

While we were at the beach, Desi had his first real amusement park ride experience at the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. Based on the pics, I'd say he enjoyed himself. And a future carnie is born...

Alone

2005-08-24T16:55:00.000-04:00

Craig recently finished reading "Alone" byRichard Byrd. It's a true story of a guy who is stuck alone in the Antarctic. He had been alone for a long time with hardly any communication with the outside world and had a lot of time to contemplate things. Craig really liked one passage where the author writes about being "alone" because even though he was very ill at the time and thought he might be nearing his death, he was very brave, maintaining his viewpoint with clarity and without succumbing to a "traditional" religious viewpoint that might promise a heavenly salvation. Here is the passage.

The universe is not dead. Therefore, there is anIntellligence there, and it is all pervading. At least one purpose, possibly the major purpose, of that Intelligence is the achievement of universal harmony. Striving in the right direction for Peace (Harmony), therefore, as well as the achievement of it, is the result of accord with that Intelligence. It is desirable to effect that accord. The human race, then, is not alone in the universe. Though I am cut off from human beings, I am not alone. For untold ages man has felt an awareness of that Intelligence. Belief in it is the one point where all religions agree. It has been called by many names. Many call it God.

La Playa

2005-08-24T16:48:00.000-04:00

We spent a week at the beach house and had a nice time doing face plants in the sand (Desi) and getting slammed by waves (Azalea). We had plenty of playmates -- Gigi and the Segals, Angela and Kai and the Schindlers, a brithday party of 10 nine-year-old girls (don't ask), Dr. Joyce and Doc, Paul, and Butt-Surfing Champs David and Helen. The Singers also came to stay for a few days and Lauren taught Azalea some basic gymnastics moves like "crouch down! The Mahoneys were there for most of the week, staying a few doors down from us on Dune St. The Mighty Quinn asked Azalea to go upstairs to "see his room" at one point. Should I be worried?

Desi's First Baseball Game!

2005-08-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday we went to our first-ever Washington Nationals game (well, it was Craig's second; he went on opening day). It was Desi's first-ever baseball game, and Grandma Gwen's first baseball game in about 30 years (or so she claimed). We had a great time riding the Metro (can't believe I just wrote that), eating hot dogs, peanuts and blue snow cones, and watching the game -- even though the Nationals lost to the Padres.

After the game, Azalea and her Dad waited in line for about 45 minutes for a chance to run the bases at RFK. Azalea was really excited to run (and kept running ahead of people in line) but once she got to the actual baseball diamond, she refused to move and Craig had to carry her and run the bases. Oh well. Maybe next year. She only really wanted to run the bases so that she could get close to Screech the Eagle.

Desi had fun crawling around the top of the Nationals dugout until a security guard busted him. Not even a year old and already in trouble with the law...

Ohio Blues

2005-08-03T09:42:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty disappointed this morning. I really thought Paul Hackett would win the Congressional seat in Ohio last night. I know that it's a really Republican district and all, and that the race was super-close, but still... You'd think in this era of "support the troops" that people would support an Iraq war veteran. Oh, but wait. I forgot. He's a Democrat so he is not worth supporting. Interesting that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are all in favor of respecting and supporting "our brave men and women" and fall all over themselves kissing the butts of any serviceperson who calls in to the their shows, but they feel okay with trashing one of these people and besmirching their reputation if he doesn't believe the same things they do.

I was reading a message board the other day where a similar thing was happening. A Republican was complaining about the bumper sticker "I support the troops, but I don't support Bush." He was arguing back and forth with an active duty serviceman because the serviceman was praising the bumper sticker as 'telling the truth' about how most of the troops feel. He pretty much was spewing bile and calling the serviceman "pathetic" and a "disgrace," merely for expressing his opinion. Of course, the Repug had never been in the service, so that was interesting, too.

Here's one of the things the serviceman wrote: "I'm active duty. I'm speaking out against the President. Like most of my comrades, I know very well my life is on the line for some a$$hole's oil reserves. I also know my tour will pay for my college and give me a shot at a decent life. That's why I'm here. That's why we're all here. Thank God for people who have the intelligence to see that supporting us is the opposite of supporting that chimpanzee in the Oval Office."

Well, unfortunately, Chimpanzee put the troops there, and while I'm sure that they cannot openly be defiant of their commander in chief (rather than secretly defiant on the Internet), many of them are probably feeling pretty bitter. I mean, we have so much money as a nation and we can't make sure these people have adequate protection while they're in Iraq cleaning up the mess we all made? To me, that's what supporting the troops is. Make sure these guys have kevlar, for crying out loud. How about some new equipment that doesn't malfunction? The Operation Truth web site is very illuminating; it's written by people who have returned from Iraq and their true stories. www.optruth.org I should add that to our list of links.

Unfortunately, you can't fit all of that onto a yellow ribbon.

Back to the Hackett race -- I heard this morning that the places where Hackett was the least popular was in the 'exurbs,' the areas that are beyond the established suburbs where they are building all of the gated communities and McMansions. Draw your own conclusions.

Flower Power

2005-08-02T12:04:00.000-04:00

The Gladiola Gang

Cheers from NY

2005-08-02T10:33:00.000-04:00

While we were in NY for the Michaelides family picnic (see below), we also saw the Thanos crew Yiayia got a chance to engage in one of her favorite activities -- shoving food down Desi's throat.

Family Reunion

2005-08-02T10:09:00.000-04:00

So we went to NY the weekend of July 23 for a Michaelides family picnic (or Mijailidis family, if you're from the Argentine contingent). It was at the Ragonesi Neverland Ranch, otherwise known as the home of Monica, Louie, Louie Jr. and Jessica, and complete with a swimming pool and inflatable slide, playsets and batting cage. It was good to see everyone, and especially relieving to note that Rachel is just as much of a exhibitionist/nudie girl as Azalea. There was a lot of Yankees talk going on, not surprisingly, since lil' Louie is OBSESSED with them. Another highlight was Tia Lydis' steaks with chimichurri (yum). Maybe next year the reunion will be in Maryland...

"I'm a uniter, not a divider. I refuse to play the politics of putting people into groups and pitting one group against another." -- George W. Bush

2005-08-01T13:52:00.000-04:00

"It's sad that even while the president preaches democracy around the world, he bends the rules and circumvents the will of Congress in appointing our representative to the United Nations." — Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J.

Once again, Dubya gives the big F-U to all who disagree with him. Zieg heil, baby.

Imagine

2005-07-28T13:16:00.000-04:00

With all of the space news related to the Space Shuttle Discovery recently, I was reminded of something Willie McCool, one of the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia (the one that disintegrated upon re-entry in 2003) said: "From our orbital vantage point, we observe an Earth without borders, full of peace, beauty and magnificence, and we pray that humanity as a whole can imagine a borderless world as we see it, and strive to live as one in peace." Hey, maybe that's what we should do -- send all warmongers to space so they can see the big picture.

We are overworked losers

2005-07-28T11:20:00.000-04:00

So, how do people have time to write in blogs, anyway? The most I can manage is uploading some pics from time to time. Yeesh.
Anyway, here are some pics from Elaine, Sam and Noah's visit to Maryland! Noah and Desi (only one month apart in age but over 10 pounds apart in weight -- yikes) had a lot of fun following each other around and trying unsuccessfully to bite eachother's heads.
BTW, Elaine is drunk in that photo, thanks to Cathy's margaritas.
Also included is a pic of Allie the Bug Girl -- don't know why the pic published so tiny; I'll have to check that out -- and an action shot of Craig playing volleyball at the Jamaica Jam back in June. His team actually won the tournament! Not bad for a an old man (er, um, I mean a crafty veteran).

2005-07-11T16:14:00.000-04:00

Young crabbies

Welcome to the Online Crab Casa!

2005-06-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

You have found the blog for peace, love, crabs, a strange couple whose favorite number is 33, and their adorable children. Welcome, my friends.