Private Life
What are you doing right now? Nineteen: Dedicated to the ever-swelegant Java Jean
bbudke - 10:49 a.m. Pacific Time - Jun 7, 2004 - #4041 of 5079
But honestly, is there a fat woman alive who DOESN'T KNOW? Who doesn't know every minute of every day? Who doesn't know that a 5 oz. serving of meat is the size of a deck of playing cards and that eight 8 oz. glasses of water a day are important and blueberries are high in antioxidants AND fiber and that whole grains are better nutritionally than refined and white sugar is poisonpoisonPOISON? Who doesn't know that no matter where she goes, someone will be looking at what she eats and making some sort of judgment, and someone else will look at what she wears and make another sort of judgment and someone else will look at her and just feel happy that at least she's not THAT big and someone else will look at her and feel sad for her, and that is judgment too.
And meanwhile, people who don't have to wear their sins on their bodies, people who cut people off in traffic and park in handicapped spots just for a second and smack their children and cheat on their taxes and laugh at homeless people? They get a pass. Because you can't tell what kind of person they are just by looking at them. And you can't tell who I am just by looking at me, either. But some people think they can anyway. And it makes me tired.
Mothers Who Think
Family rituals, traditions and celebrations
Safelight - 08:22 a.m. Pacific Time - Jun 5, 2004 - #30 of 34
Fourth of July celebrations have always been a big deal in my family. We went to a parade in the morning, then went to a local park for free watermelon and general park hanging around. In the evening we'd go to the football stadium to watch fireworks and roll down a grassy hill over and over. OK, the rolling bit was usually just the kids. In later years, we stopped going to the football stadium and went to my parents' church, which had a perfect view of the stadium fireworks. Everyone brought ice cream makers and we'd sit on the lawn eating just-made ice cream while we watched the fireworks. I miss that.
I love my country and I'm not about to let a bunch of hateful wing-nuts convince me that they get to define patriotism to exclude me. I love the Bill of Rights. I love freedom of the press and separation of church and state. I love the right to dissent. I love being innocent until proven guilty and having the right to a fair trial.
I love the fact that even when this clumsy adolescent of a country makes mistakes or starts to veer off course, we usually come back to center. I hate what the current administration is doing in our name, but I believe that we will get back on course. I don't need to believe that the U.S. is better than other countries, and I think it's a mistake to interpret patriotism in that way. This is the country I was born in, my country; it's the country that I love, and the country that I want to be proud of again. I won't question my patriotism. I question the acts of the current administration, but that's an entirely different thing, despite their protests to the contrary. I know this isn't a political thread, and I apologize for veering off-topic, but this subject is dear to my heart.
Politics
I come not to praise Reagan, but to mourn him
Carmel - 09:49 a.m. Pacific Time - Jun 7, 2004 - #4 of 73
He and Nancy showed real class and compassion in his waning days. They deserve respect for that, especially Nancy who has joined the fight for stell cell research. It is unfortunate that their reign in the White House was marked by a distinct lack of such respect and compassion for others. Ronnie presided over the brutality of our Central America policy, which included training in the torture peasants and support for a regime almost as corrupt as AWOL; an administration that broke all land-speed records for number of members convicted; the wholesale dismantling of environmental protections; the sanctification of racism; and a general fostering of me-first, complacent greed.
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