Yellow Dog/Bleeding Heart

Hint: There's a great picture of my favourite "adopted" nephew ; the boy who inspires all this, on his team's site (Holla Josh!). Dear Friends, I have a small handful of organizations that I personally support. Tulsa Autism Foundation is the only one that I ask for your help with once a year. Why? Largely because the Co-Founder of the organization, Jennifer Miller, is my personal hero; because Josh is an incredible kid, and because this family exemplifies everything good about life: gratitude, compassion, motivation, commitment, generosity ... (I truly could go on and on.) I KNOW that the money the foundation raises directly benefits the families in our community who are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders. Every donation, no matter how small, is received with genuine gratitude. Every single dollar makes a difference for this grass roots organization. Since opening its doors in 2006, the foundation has been able to increase awareness in our community and to offer ...

I tried to like Hillary. I really did. By all rights I should be one of her staunchest supporters. I am a feminist woman. I loved Bill Clinton. He was the one who inspired me to take an interest in Politics. I gave birth to my only child just two months before Election Day in 1992. I was a single mom at a time when the Republicans were campaigning on a platform of family values which condemned people like me (and Murphy Brown.) I remember feeling that the leaders of my country condemned, rather than supported me. It was a defining period in my life. Bill brought politics into the realm of the common man. He got the attention of the MTV generation. He reminded minorities of their voice. During the first six years of his presidency the policies of his legislation served to better the lives of working people. Of course I wanted to support Hillary. But she has let me down. Over and over again. Every time I hear her speak she angers me more. Hillary is campaigning from a position of power t...

I like Aerosmith. There. I said it. Should I be embarrassed about this? Or should I be more embarrassed by the fact that before this weekend I could not have named a single Aerosmith song? Okay, that is not entirely true because I was familiar with Walk This Way - but only because of Run-DMC (Da Kings of Queens - hollah Muller!) And I guess somewhere amidst the pop culture databases in my mind I recognised that Dude Looks Like a Lady was sung by the only man with lips larger than Jagger. But that was really the extent of it. While I am shaming myself, I may as well admit that I can still only name two Led Zeppelin songs: Stairway to Heaven (duh) and D'Yer Maker . I only know the latter because one of the cooks in the restaurant I worked in throughout college sang it ALL THE TIME. As far as naming the members of this seminal band ... well, aside from Robert Plant I can't. I even just cheated and googled just to make sure Plant was actually a member. I guess I just missed the...

So my doc quit her practice to take an administrative position and I had to switch to a different one. It really sucks because I really really liked the old doc. But the new doc I chose is my friend Darrin's partner. I'm pretty confident that since Darrin is a nice guy and a great doctor, surely his partner in the practice will be equally good. We ruled out Darrin being my doctor a long time ago, as since we are friends and neighbors it would be kind of awkward to introduce physical exams into our relationship. Anyway, I met the new guy last week when I went in for some labs. Friday we met to discuss the results and to hopefully find out why the fuck I feel like crap and can barely stay awake these days. Turns out there was nothing in my lab work that would account for my lethargy. Damn! I was actually honestly kind of hoping for some skewed thyroid numbers or anemia, as at least that would explain things. New Doc is now betting on sleep apnea as the culprit, which has been bro...

I just finished reading Susan Nash's I Never Did Tell You Did I? It's an interesting glimpse into the life of a woman just trying to deal with life. I have had the pleasure of taking classes from Dr. Nash and she is an awesome instructor whose passion for writing inspires. Do board books count even though I am old? I just added two adorable board books to my collection: The Story of Rosa Parks and the The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr . I'm not really sure why they chose the board book format, as the stories are written for about kindergarten level, but they do offer a concise biography of the subjects. Tonight in Barnes & Noble I found a first edition of Irving's latest novel, Until I find You, on the clearance table for five bucks! That made me really happy, as it completed (to date) my Irving collection. Well, sort of. I refuse to acknowledge Son of the Circus, which reamins the only book that ever bested me. I absolutely could not stand it enough to read e...

Prejudices found in the community are often acted out in the workplace. In George Henderson’s book, Cultural Diversity in the Workplace, prejudice is defined as “a conclusion drawn without adequate knowledge or evidence”. [1] While there are laws to prevent discrimination in the workplace, as pointed out in the text, there are no laws against having a prejudicial attitude. This raises the question: is anyone without prejudice? I have heard the statement that we should “embrace diversity” rather than merely practice tolerance. I consider myself an open minded individual, but I am neither sure I agree with embracing diversity, nor am I sure that to truly do so is possible. Certainly I respect diversity. If diversity can be loosely defined as “differences”, then isn’t the acknowledgment of said differences without judgment an acceptable goal? Take religious views for example. A Christian’s view of Jesus as the son of God is the foundation of their faith – their religious truth. A Buddhis...

The Prostitution Research and Education (PRE) Site is clearly against prostitution. Their stated mission is “to abolish the institution of prostitution while at the same time advocating for alternatives to trafficking and prostitution - including emotional and physical healthcare for women in prostitution”. [1] Included in their mission statement is the conviction that men (and their demand for prostitution) are the root of the problem. This is a narrow and sexist view which paints women as victims and men as over-sexed aggressors. Men are not the only ones who use the services of prostitutes. Additionally, to use the term “demand” is to claim an inherent aggression, or anger, in the desire for the services of a prostitute. Yes, there is a definite chauvinistic aspect to prostitution. In fact, claiming that men are the root cause of prostitution is quite chauvinistic. In a 1994 Andrea Dworkin, a self proclaimed radical feminist, gave a speech entitled Prostitution and Male Supremacy. ...