tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17693493395762837242024-02-07T00:29:18.204-05:00Disney Princess RecoveryBringing Sexy Back
For a Full RefundMary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-47627690795225252982018-02-15T23:49:00.000-05:002018-02-15T23:49:28.956-05:00Who's in your wallet?<br />
<br />
<br />
This is the part where elected officials tweet condolences:<br />
<br />
<br />
"... praying for the victims..." $7,740,521. from NRA<br />
<br />
"...this tragic violence has no place here..." $6,986,620. from NRA<br />
<br />
"...saddened by the tragic loss of life..." $4,551,146. from NRA<br />
<br />
"...our deepest condolences and prayers... $4,418,012 from NRA<br />
<br />
"...praying for the families of those..." $3,879,064 from NRA<br />
<br />
"...praying for all the victims...." $3,303,355 from NRA<br />
<br />
"...prayers with all the victims..." $3,124,273 from NRA<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/opinion/thoughts-prayers-nra-funding-senators.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=Multimedia"><br /></a>
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/opinion/thoughts-prayers-nra-funding-senators.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Opinion&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=Multimedia">Thoughts and Prayers and NRA Funding</a>Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-46158029556993403512018-02-15T22:38:00.001-05:002018-02-15T23:16:06.452-05:00#repeat<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="7698" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: none; width: 570px;">
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">"After Britain had a mass shooting in 1987, the country </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">instituted strict gun control laws. So did Australia </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">after a 1996 shooting. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">But the United States has repeatedly faced the same </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">calculus and determined that relatively unregulated </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">gun ownership </span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">is worth the cost to society.</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="94" data-total-count="7792" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: none; width: 570px;">
That choice, more than any statistic or regulation,<br />
is what most sets the United States apart.</div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="321" data-total-count="8113" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: none; width: 570px;">
'In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the<br />
end of the US gun control debate,' Dan Hodges,<br />
a British journalist, wrote in <a href="https://twitter.com/dpjhodges/status/611943312401002496?lang=en" style="color: #326891;">a post on Twitter</a><br />
two years ago, <span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">referring to the 2012 attack </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">that killed 20 young students at </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">a</span><span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">n elementary school in Connecticut. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">'Once America decided killing children was bearable, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 1.0625rem;">it was over.'"</span></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="321" data-total-count="8113" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: none; width: 570px;">
--<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html?action=click&contentCollection=Health&module=Trending&version=Full&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article">What Explains Mass Shootings?</a></div>
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="321" data-total-count="8113" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: none; width: 570px;">
<br /></div>
Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-18782457557387603902018-01-14T23:02:00.000-05:002018-01-14T23:02:06.968-05:00Athlete A: She Has a Name<div class="image" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; flex-shrink: 0; font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 7px; position: relative;">
<img alt="" class="media-viewer-candidate" data-mediaviewer-caption="Maggie Nichols on the beam at the United States Olympic gymnastics trials in 2016, before she retired to compete at the college level." data-mediaviewer-credit="Gregory Bull/Associated Press" data-mediaviewer-src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/09/us/10xp-nichols/10xp-nichols-superJumbo.jpg" height="146" itemid="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/09/us/10xp-nichols/10xp-nichols-master768.jpg" itemprop="url" src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/09/us/10xp-nichols/10xp-nichols-master768.jpg" style="display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: 705px;" width="200" /><br />
<div class="media-action-overlay" style="border-radius: 6px; border: 1px solid rgba(200, 200, 200, 0.8); bottom: 15px; cursor: pointer; left: 15px; opacity: 1; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.2s ease-in; z-index: 5;">
<span class="icon sprite-icon" style="background-image: url("/assets/article/20180108-115142/images/sprite/sprite-no-repeat.svg"); background-position: -256px -135px; background-repeat: no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 38px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: middle; width: 38px;"></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<figcaption class="caption" itemprop="caption description" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-sh, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; line-height: 1.0625rem; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; max-width: 630px;"><span class="caption-text">Maggie Nichols on the beam at the United States Olympic gymnastics trials in 2016, before she retired to compete at the college level.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder" style="color: #999999; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.6875rem; line-height: 1rem;"><span class="visually-hidden" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(0px 0px 0px 0px); height: 1px; margin: -1px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 1px;">Credit</span></span></figcaption><br />
<div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="169" data-total-count="690" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 75px; max-width: none; width: 570px;">
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 0.6875rem;">Gregory Bull/Associated Press</span> </div>
<br />
Words we must hear from women who have come forward: These are just two of the 140 (to date) victims of Larry Nassar, described within these articles as a highly reputable physician with "exceptional interpersonal skills," Sunday school instructor, and beloved community member. Why does it take victims so long to report? Read on. <br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 1.0625rem;">“Up until now, I was identified as Athlete A by U.S.A. Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee and Michigan State University,” Ms. Nichols said </span><a href="http://www.californiasexualabusefirm.com/documents/Maggie-Nichols-Statement.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #326891; font-size: 1.0625rem;">in a statement</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 1.0625rem;"> provided by her lawyer, John Manly. “I want everyone to know that he did not do this to Athlete A, he did it to Maggie Nichols.”</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ms. Nichols’s mother, Gina Nichols, said in a phone interview that her daughter finally felt comfortable speaking out after “living with this torment” for so long.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 1.0625rem;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“We kept being told U.S.A. Gymnastics is handling it, so she just did what she was told to do, and she was told to keep quiet,” said Gina Nichols, who accused U.S.A. Gymnastics of a cover-up. “If she uses her voice and comes forward, she feels she might be able to help others.”</span></span><br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/sports/maggie-nichols-abuse-larry-nassar.html" style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 17px;">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/sports/maggie-nichols-abuse-larry-nassar.html</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;">Denhollander said she hesitated to contact police for more than 15 years because "I was 100 percent confident that I would not be believed."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;">Nassar "was (MSU's) golden boy. He was USAG's golden boy," she said. "He was so loved in the community that I was very sure ... I would be crucified and he would end up empowered to know he couldn't get caught.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "benton sans", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.208px;">"What breaks my heart more than anything," she said, "is that all these women who came forward and did what I didn't do, that's exactly what happened to them."</span><br />
<a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/page/msu_doctor_alleged_sexual_assault.html">http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/page/msu_doctor_alleged_sexual_assault.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
**<br />
<br />
I fully support hashtags and impassioned speeches. They are the kindling of important action. <br />
<br />
If time is up, let's see how fast we can change policies and legal loopholes that keep perpetrators of abuse protected, that keep those harmed, silent.<br />
<br />
<br />
Small changes with big impact could be made quicker than the passing of a 429 page tax bill. They would protect those who have been harmed or exploited, and limit the ability to cause further harm by those who are skilled at this practice.<br />
<br />
Ready, set, remove:<br />
<br />
1.<br />
<u>Statute of limitations on reporting and prosecuting sexual violence</u><br />
<br />
The years it takes for young girls, young women, wise women, boys and men of all ages, to speak of the shitty shit that happens and limits their life <i>does not fit into a tidy 2-5 year plan</i>. Time's up on statute of limitations. It is a form of protection, for the abusive individual.<br />
<br />
2.<br />
<u>Hush money</u><br />
<br />
We've already seen that this is a legal tactic of abuse. It often follows or accompanies multiple attempts to discredit or further frighten the individual who is reporting.<br />
Most people who report are scared, and remain scared at every stage of the likely fall out and consequences.<br />
Abusive legal tactics maximize this fear.<br />
<br />
Purchased silence:<br />
-harms the victim by exploiting their fear<br />
-emboldens the perpetrator<br />
-places others at risk<br />
<br />
Remove the option of those with an army of attorneys to write up an acknowledgment of what happened with disappearing ink and slip it into a sealed document.<br />
<br />
<br />
Is time up? Time will tell. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, keep speaking. <br />
Keep writing.<br />
Keep sharing<br />
Keep listening to those who are speaking. <br />
Keep looking for actionable steps to create concrete change.Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-5111315314796756692017-10-02T23:01:00.000-04:002017-10-02T23:01:40.123-04:00The Right To Bear Arms, againWe should no longer be using the term "shooting". They are massacres, and they do not have to happen. <br />
<br />
Weapons of this magnitude are not used for hunting, or sport. We should not look away in our grief, but look closer, and hold this senselessness with us until we address, in some tangible way, why we have this senselessness. <br />
<br />
<br />
Posted in 2012, after the <a href="http://othertings.blogspot.com/2012/12/">Sandy Hook massacre</a>:<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When the shooting at Columbine happened, I was living in Galway, Ireland in an apartment that I shared with two German students and two American students. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I came home from class and found my German roommates standing uncharacteristically close to the television, watching the news. They turned to me as I entered our shared kitchen. On their faces they wore expressions I will never forget. It wasn't anguish. It was complete bewilderment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It took them finding words, me watching part of the news, and a few minutes for me to come to understand what had taken place in Colorado. But it took their questions and their fumbling for me to start to contemplate this from a different perspective.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My shock as Columbine unfolded was connected to the horror and tragedy. To the suffering, and the lives lost, and the aftermath for each family.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their bewilderment was different. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Soren asked me: Is this true? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Was what true?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is it possible? he asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This. How could one person have so many weapons? How could this boy get a gun, or multiple guns?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anybody can get a gun, I remember saying.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was this blank silence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But how is this so? Kristina asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How is this so?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had never contemplated gun laws before this conversation. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But I started paying attention to some questions and began to understand Soren and Kristina's complete confusion. They could not even register the tragedy immediately because their minds could not get past the how is this even possible?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had no problem understanding the how. Guns, weapons, are not hard to come by. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After Columbine, I continued to talk with my German flatmates about crime in their country. I started noticing the nature of violent crime within Ireland. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During that period in Ireland, it wasn't that there were no violent crimes. There were many during my 8 months there. Stabbings. Muggings. Beatings. The reaction within the community and splashed across the newspaper was the same as the reaction we have in the US when a crime is committed: pain, grief, questioning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's also not that Americans are a more violent brand of humans.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We simply have unprecedented access to a means which causes excessive harm in a short period of time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is an awful point, but here it is: it takes far longer kill 3 people without an automatic weapon than it does to shoot 20, or 30 with one. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The beatings and stabbings in Ireland seemed to line up with Soren's explanation of violent crime in Germany. They are horrific. But intervention can happen more quickly because of the nature of the crime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have come to exist with such ease of acquiring weapons that it does not touch the national consciousness until something like this occurs. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It keeps occurring. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We can question the young man and whatever illness plagued his mind. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We can look at how to make a school better protected, with metal detectors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or we can ask: why is a constitutional right that was written in 1791 still upheld in 2012?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Right to Bear Arms was inked at a time when it made sense. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Does it still make sense today?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Does it fit?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do we need to have such access to automatic weapons to protect ourselves? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This amendment was adopted on December 15. 221 years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two hundred and twenty-one years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The right to bear arms was written during a time when "arms" were single-shot weapons. Before the existence of high velocity clips and semi-automatic rifles. The technology of our weapons has far exceeded the original "arms."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are being called---yet again---to explore this right, and who exactly it is protecting.</span><br />
<br />
<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-58119695269842201532017-07-04T04:12:00.000-04:002017-07-04T04:44:57.803-04:00The World Turned Upside DownFour score, and seven years ago...there was a poetry jam at the White House, and the mad rapper Lin Manuel Miranda tested out this thing he was working on, and <em>there is no turning back. </em>Here is what happens once you have been infected:<br />
<br />
<br />
Someone asks you your name. At a work event or in some formal setting where you are supposed to simply say your name. Instead, your brain immediately translates their question into WHAT'S YOUR NAME MAN and there is a very long pause while a very small internal voice, barely audible, pleads, <em>Don't sing, it's not appropriate, they might not know what you are talking about, maybe they've never heard the song please just answer the question with your name </em>but the louder part of your brain is already halfway through the reprise. This is what happens to me now, and so it takes 7 - 12 seconds and two deep breaths to answer, every single time someone asks my name. <br />
<br />
<br />
On the outside, I say my name. BUT ON THE INSIDE, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JJ3K1gbnJQ">this.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
For the uninitiated but curious, a crash course below.<br />
<br />
<br />
But first: it's July 4th*.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/SWZy3zRbBHI?rel=0" width="500"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*content may reflect significant events that took place within +/-7 years of Congressional approval of final text of <strike>Repeal and Replace</strike> The Declaration of Independence</span><br />
<br /><br />
Now. Ye who have heard of it but not <em>heard it, </em>here are some starter songs, which I've retitled. This is where you begin, and then when you are ready, jump into Cabinet Battles and King George love songs. <br />
<br />
<br />
Then, tell me your name.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9AyO8h2I0k">Warmup of Wonder</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrsmUzqweBI">The Unimagineable</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjMN6zSVFQg">Being a Parent Reconstructs Your Heart</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWdBOsk8D7A">How the Sausage Gets Made</a> <br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRHOcskOudg">Everyone Shall Sit Under Their Own Vine and Fig Tree and No One Shall Make Them Afraid</a>Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-1152157286827732362016-12-15T15:42:00.001-05:002016-12-15T15:42:26.485-05:00Season of Giving<br /><br />
The best things in life aren't things.<br />
<br />
<br />
However, if you <em>are</em> buying for kiddos, look here see: it's A Mighty Girl here to save the day.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
Click <a href="http://www.amightygirl.com/holiday-guide">here</a> for a holiday gift guide.<br />
<br /><br />
And for book ideas? Go <a href="http://www.amightygirl.com/books">here</a> my friend.<br />
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<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-71778100368184130702016-09-20T10:43:00.000-04:002016-09-20T10:43:21.225-04:00ScreenagersScreenagers....or, let's be real, <i>All</i>agers...is a new documentary produced by a physician and mom to teenagers, Dr. Delaney Ruston.<br />
<br />
<br />
"Kids are on screens too much, but parents don't know what to do about it. So I decided to make this film not only to look at the impact, but to look at solutions." <br />
<br />
Check <a href="http://www.screenagersmovie.com/find-a-screening/">here</a> for a screening in your area.<br />
<br />
<iframe width="464" height="261" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LQx2X0BXgZg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-72319527198005941112016-08-21T23:04:00.000-04:002016-08-21T23:04:30.785-04:00Durga's Dad<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/08/15/489790411/a-father-vows-to-save-his-daughter-from-a-plight-he-got-her-into">Read this.<br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/08/15/489790411/a-father-vows-to-save-his-daughter-from-a-plight-he-got-her-into"></a></a><br />
It's what hope looks like.<br />
<br />
It is how healing happens.<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-23210390313776088852016-08-10T12:45:00.000-04:002016-08-16T23:02:04.044-04:00Welcome to Yellowstone: Ba da ba ba bah, I'm lovin' it!If you have ever visited one of the 58 National Parks in the United States, you likely experienced a sense of awe, wonder, and the stillness that comes from encountering immense beauty.<br />
<br />
Beauty that has been protected and preserved from commercial use.<br />
<br />
<br />
Until now.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Corporate sponsorship is being considered as a source of funding to maintain and support the National Parks.<br />
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A new policy proposed by the National Park Service will remove current rules saying that parks must be free of commercialism. The order directs parks to actively seek donations from corporate vendors, while also liberalizing rules on “donor” recognition and lifting restrictions on naming rights in parks. That means your visit to a national park will increasingly become marred by product placement in visitors’ centers and on signage, benches, paving stones, and park vehicles. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> ---Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood</span></blockquote>
Or: <br />
<br /></div>
<br />
"These mountains brought to you by Chick-fil-A, and over here, this natural hot spring made possible by Burger King. The moose? Brought to you by Shell Global. At Shell, our motto is, 'We heart nature!' "<br />
<br />
<br />
Sometimes you look at a problem (need funding to maintain the National Parks) and then look at a possible solution (corporate vendors with naming rights in the park) and it takes a nanosecond for Megan Trainor's song to come to mind:<br />
<br />
<br />
<em>Down to the ah to the no, no, no.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
So while a much much better solution is being procured, you can sign a petition giving your 'No' to the really terrible solution being considered. <br />
<br />
<br />
Sign<a href="http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/action/don%E2%80%99t-turn-our-national-parks-billboards"> here.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
I'm #2101. <br />
You can sign your name or keep it anonymous.<br />
Either way, the mountains will thank you. Or at least, the moose. Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-2461771149409183112016-07-29T00:15:00.001-04:002016-08-10T12:44:06.522-04:00Goldilocks, Reconstructed.<br /><br />
Miss C went through a long and entertaining phase where reading a book or telling a story pretty much mimicked this here. <br />
<br /><br />
For your viewing enjoyment: Goldilocks, Reconstructed<br />
<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wPP4xQWlLbs?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-7420268311331155392016-04-26T00:02:00.000-04:002016-04-26T00:02:06.202-04:00What to do with all the leftover Barbie SpiesRemember this fun toy?<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>A Barbie. That talks to your kid. And records what your kid says. And stores all that information in a cloud. And uses that information to market to children more specifically.</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Brought to my attention by the ever-marvelous Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, I posted about it <a href="http://disneyprincessrecovery.blogspot.com/2015/03/barbie-spy-coming-soon-or-take-10.html">here</a> in March 2015.<br />
<br />
<br />
Many of you signed a petition telling Christopher Sinclair, the CEO of Mattel, that this was a creepy, unethical, and wretched idea. Those were the printable adjectives. <br />
<br />
<br />
Advocacy works! Not always how we imagine it will! But still!<br />
<br />
<br />
If you would like to see the fruits of your signature, or just a reminder that protecting kids is <strike>generally</strike> <em>always</em> a good idea, read<a href="http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/blog/you-did-it-hello-barbie-flop"> CCFC's post</a>, <strong>You did it! Hello Barbie is a flop.</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
An excerpt:<br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Long before the doll’s release, CCFC publicized how Hello Barbie would threaten children’s privacy, creativity, and wellbeing. Nearly 45,000 people signed our petitions urging Mattel not to release the doll that records and analyzes children’s conversations, and our concerns were featured in media outlets around the world, including the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/03/11/privacy-advocates-try-to-keep-creepy-eavesdropping-hello-barbie-from-hitting-shelves/"><em>Washington Post</em></a> and <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/4111362495001/is-the-new-talking-barbie-cool-or-creepy/?#sp=show-clips"><em>Fox News</em></a>.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In November, just before the doll hit stores, we enlisted experts to help us tell parents exactly why Hello Barbie is bad for children. Our <a href="http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/action/hell-no-barbie-8-reasons-leave-hello-barbie-shelf">Hell No Barbie: 8 reasons to leave Hello Barbie on the Shelf </a>was shared far and wide on social media and inspired a fresh wave of media attention, including <a href="http://www.today.com/video/hello-barbie-goodbye-privacy-expert-says-connected-doll-has-security-issues-588751427680">The Today Show</a>. </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Yay for good things.<br />
<br />
<br />
Mattel did not make a good choice on this one. But parents did, and so Spy Barbie flopped.<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
Perhaps she could be placed in the center of the table at the next strategic planning meeting of Mattel, and report back what the hale they were thinking on this. <br />
<br /><br />
No? <br />
<em><br /></em><br />
Executives wouldn't want a real purdy data gathering recording device to attend their meeting?<br />
<br /><br />
In-ter-es-<em>ting!</em><br />
<br /><br />
Imagine: at all future gatherings, if each person had to speak into the Barbie... <br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Speak into the Barbie please. Could you adjust the Barbie? So that we can all hear and record you properly? Thank you. Yes, that's better. </span><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
<br />
<br />
I think the audio playback might sound like this:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GXE_n2q08Yw" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-36180832881131505612016-04-18T13:10:00.000-04:002016-04-18T13:10:51.698-04:00"Automatic and Invisible"<br />
One dad shares how he and wife moved through a common scenario:<br />
<br />
"...<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">no policy solution could have intervened in our situation. The variables were few and personal: two parents, two jobs, one sick kid....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It had seemed like a hassle, but it was <em>the point</em> that we do this negotiation. That's both the cost and the payoff of breaking out of the gender roles that make these decisions both automatic <em>and </em>invisible.</span>"<br />
<br />
--- <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/08/two-working-parents-one-sick-kid/375909/">Two Parents, One Sick Kid</a> by Alexis MadrigalMary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-30969874181225600932016-01-08T16:50:00.000-05:002016-01-08T16:56:50.440-05:00Awakening The ForceIt is Star Wars (time, year, life). <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEholRohHBq9cuVBl0dbH4K8_X1VG3LpodTKbjDNvobouTZK3ualLWFQDph65ZDEqbMhKcl-HEhSA6DsGrbvziAoHHeH-WaL_Zvlq-aw6mpcr_F4ZMT0LU8ktm_snH2s4jUxjUvwIjI7Yn2C/s1600/Picture+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEholRohHBq9cuVBl0dbH4K8_X1VG3LpodTKbjDNvobouTZK3ualLWFQDph65ZDEqbMhKcl-HEhSA6DsGrbvziAoHHeH-WaL_Zvlq-aw6mpcr_F4ZMT0LU8ktm_snH2s4jUxjUvwIjI7Yn2C/s320/Picture+001.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://disneyprincessrecovery.blogspot.com/2010/05/do-princesses-wear-pants.html">She Who Wears the Tunic That Looks Like Pants....back in the day</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
i.<br />
<br />
<br />
Miss C has been reading Harry Potter and for Christmas she received books 4 - 7, as well as the DVD collection of movies 1 - 8. (As fans know, and as was explained to me, the last book was so long it was made into two films.)<br />
Each time she finishes a book, she loves to watch the movie, and compare how it plays out on screen versus how it played out in her imagination. She recently finished book 3 and wanted to dive into the movie immediately. I reminded her to do her homework, tend to whatever else needed tending, and then, <em>then</em>, she could have screen time. <br />
She started laughing hysterically.<br />
<br />
<br />
"Do you know what you just said?" she asked.<br />
"Yes. Do your jobs then you can watch tv."<br />
"No! You said, 'And <em>then</em> you can watch some Star Wars.' "<br />
<br />
<br />
I had. <br />
I had swapped out HP and put in SW just like that. <br />
<br />
<br />
She went off to tend what needed tending, still laughing, saying, "We don't even <em>have</em> Star Wars!" <br />
<br />
<br />
ii.<br />
<br />
<br />
Before she had seen The Movie, Miss C was walking the line of inquiry about Star Wars, trying to grasp what was all the to-do. For important matters like this, I direct Miss C back to her dad because my depth of knowledge on Star Wars is like the kiddie pool, a mini, shallow version of the big pool. <br />
But she wasn't interested in the plot points. <br />
She wanted to know why she was supposed to like it. <br />
<br />
<br />
"You're not <em>supposed</em> to like it," I said. "You can like it, or not like it, or sort of like it."<br />
"But I feel like I'm <em>supposed</em> to like it," she'd insisted. "No one said I have to like it, but I feel like I should." <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
iii.<br />
<br />
<br />
Not long after this conversation, but still before she'd seen the movie (which transformed all uncertainty into full Force love), we were in Barnes and Noble, picking up a gift. She stopped in the middle of the first floor, as though taken over by something. She became serious, and said, "I feel like I suddenly like Star Wars. Like I <em>actually</em> like it now, and I don't know why."<br />
<br />
<br />
She was surprised by this sudden liking, a new feeling she hadn't had before.<br />
<br />
<br />
We stood still in the center of what seemed to be a new department at Barnes and Noble: Vader alarm clocks, Clone Troopers, embroidered Yoda hats, Yoda string lights, Perplexus's's's, Air Hogs, Star Wars Catch Phrase and lunch boxes and woolly gloves and Monopoly, and of course, Lightsabers of every size and color. <br />
<br />
<br />
And suddenly, without having deepened my kiddie pool knowledge of this story, and without knowing why, I felt the <em>exact</em> same way. <br />
<br />
<br />
And I really wanted the Yoda hat. <br />
<br />
<br />
iv.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Force Awakens opens in China this weekend. If you want to see 500 Storm Troopers stationed on the Great Wall (truly a sight to behold), or read about how to create retroactive nostalgia, <a href="http://www.wired.com/2016/01/star-wars-force-awakens-china/">here</a> you go.Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-84759916936168833762015-11-20T14:55:00.001-05:002015-11-20T14:55:05.630-05:00Bic For HerEarlier this week I was standing around with a few runners, drinking water and not talking about running. Talking about running is what many Runners do when they are running. It is how I know to never call myself a Runner. Or "not yet," as one Runner told me. I can't talk about running--yet--for many reasons. The first is that I can't breathe. Because I'm running. But the others are that I have too many "no" answers to questions that would expand a conversation. <br />
<br />
<br />
R: "How long have you been running?"<br />
<br />
<br />
Me: (gasping)<br />
<br />
<br />
R: "Do you have any races coming up?"<br />
<br />
<br />
Me: (panting) "No."<br />
<br />
<br />
Other ways I know I am not <em>yet</em> a Runner is that I don't have that watch that beeps, I never know what mile we are on, and headlamps, I don't have one, though every time it is dark, I lurk creepily behind someone who is wearing one so I can see where I am going. Or else practice running in the dark. Is that a raccoon or a giant pot hole? <em>Ouch. </em>Not a raccoon. Also, reflective gear, like those criss-cross yellow blinking Safety Patrol belts. And those water bottles that strap to your hand. Or your back. Also, special sneakers. Or proper clothing.<br />
<br />
<br />
There are too many signs to keep listing. The fact that if it is 10 degrees with a windchill of -15, you could not pay me to even contemplate the joy of Running. "You just need the right clothing," one Runner stated, when I explained my 4 month absence from November through March. This is where silence is useful, because I really like hot drinks, listening to the wind howl outside my window, and feeling generally glad to be out of the elements. No amount of Under Armour is going to change that. <br />
<br />
<br />
Another tell-tale sign is that I don't understand a 50K. I don't admire or mock it. I just don't get it. I've spent a little bit of time wondering what makes us gravitate toward intentional pain and suffering, with little pay off, and I think that in lieu of living in dangerous environments, we seek out a bit of anguish and physical harm. And wear beeping watches and blinking lights to help us achieve this goal.<br />
<br />
<br />
All of these things demonstrate what makes one a R, which is a commitment to something, an attention to the details that maximize the experience, and a goal-focused way of making sure that you are growing in an area that you value. It's very teaching. <br />
<br />
<br />
If you don't have any races coming up and you can't breathe, it makes conversation <em>after</em> the run much more fluid and manageable. <br />
<br />
<br />
And sometimes pretty funny. <br />
Because I gravitate toward others who are similarly unprepared but keep showing up. <br />
In one such recent conversation, I was "hydrating" (which is a Runner's word for drinking water) and talking to a man and a woman. The woman was mentioning a yoga class that she goes to, and how she feels bad for always being late. <br />
"It's like, all peaceful in there and I try to sneak in without being loud but then I'll bump someone or drop my mat and interrupt everything."<br />
I nod my head in sympathy. <br />
The man is quiet, no nodding. Then he says, "I like to get there 15 minutes early." I nod, again, in sympathy. Too early, too late. Both can be difficult qualities to embody.<br />
"And," he say, "get my things all lined up. My mat the way I like it, my waterbottle and my blocks and the band," he is physically lining them up with his hands. It's all organized in his chosen corner and then I imagine this woman tripping over him as she enters the room 30 minutes later. He tells a tale about a woman who always arrives ahead of him to get the exact same spot in the class, every single time. This intrigues me the way someone doing a 50K intrigues me. <br />
"What would happen if someone took her spot?" I ask.<br />
He thinks it wouldn't be good.<br />
"Have you ever tried?" <br />
"Oh, I wouldn't," he says. <br />
I would. Just to see. This is probably why it's good I don't go to yoga classes.<br />
The yoga conversation continues, and it gets funnier and funnier. I ask a question and immediately regret it. I don't know where the question comes from.<br />
"What kind of yoga class is it?" This is my question. As soon as I ask, I realize:<br />
1. She could make up a name and I wouldn't know the difference<br />
2. I know there are different kinds of yoga, but I don't know what they are, so I'm not sure why I am asking this. <br />
But no question is ever wasted, because she knows as much as I do, but now the man is trying to guess which kind it is. <br />
He asks if it is the fast breathing yoga.<br />
"I don't think so," she says, looking like she is playing out the last class in memory to look for any fast breathing. "You mean, like, deep breathing?"<br />
No. He means fast breathing. He demonstrates. And what he demonstrates is very familiar. I recall learning it in a natural child birthing class. He's showing the part of breathing you do during a contraction.<br />
"Are you sure you were in a yoga class?" I ask. "That sounds like Lamaze."<br />
"No, it was yoga," he says. <br />
"Because I can see how you might accidentally enter a Lamaze class and it would be similar to yoga, and the instructor would be pretty laid-back and accepting and would see you practicing labor breathing and would just, you know, encourage you, thinking, 'Well, to each their own.' " <br />
"It was yoga," he says. <br />
<br />
<br />
She's not sure the kind of yoga class it is, and so he is guessing: lots of poses? Fast flowing? I think of all the information about yoga that has been deposited into my brain by people who say <em>You have to try it</em> and then tell me how they go to rooms where it is 150 degrees and just sweat. There are the cold Under Armour Runners and the Hot Yoga breathers and the man who is guessing what kind of yoga this woman does says something like, "It roots your soul. Does she say that in class?"<br />
"Yes!" the woman says. <br />
And then they are exchanging the many times that soul is referenced during their 60 minute workout class. "Like, 'Feel your soul flow,' and 'Now s-t-r-e-t-c-h your soul!'" <br />
<br />
<br />
I am getting the sense that there are Runners, and those who run, and there are Yogis, and those who do drop in classes. And the drop-ins don't know why the soul is referenced just as those who run don't have any races lined up. Yet. <br />
<br />
<br />
Somewhere in this <strike>post-Running </strike>post-running conversation, the woman asked if we had seen a bit done by Ellen DeGeneres on Pens for Women.<br />
I hadn't, but said that that's a funny idea. <br />
"No, it's real. These pens made for women, by Bic. It's called Bic for Her."<br />
<br />
<br />
Without further ado, fast breathing, or upcoming races, I bring to you, Bic. For Her<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eCyw3prIWhc" width="560"></iframe><br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-62034545854011203272015-11-18T11:23:00.000-05:002015-11-18T11:29:30.861-05:00The Changing Lives of Women: Going BlueIn 2013, NPR launched a series titled <a href="http://www.npr.org/series/177622347/the-changing-lives-of-women">The Changing Lives of Women</a>. <br />
<br />
Today's segment features 85 year old Anne Bernays: novelist, teacher, and blue haired beauty.<br />
<br />
<blockquote></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">"While young people sparkle like diamonds, old folks are invisible — except, as I discovered, if you have bright blue hair."</blockquote>Well worth the listen.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="290" scrolling="no" src="http://www.npr.org/player/embed/456349585/456459500" title="NPR embedded audio player" width="100%"></iframe><br />
Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-52925249805851529492015-10-13T18:02:00.000-04:002015-10-13T18:04:45.992-04:00Alternatively TitledI heard this on the radio this morning and my brain immediately started retitling the story.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here are just a few:<br />
<br />
<br />
I Really Do Read it for the Articles<br />
<br />
<br />
Why Buy the <strike>Cow</strike> Magazine When There's The Internet For Free<br />
<br />
<br />
Naked is as Naked Does (this one makes no sense, but has a nice ring)<br />
<br />
<br />
Less is More, and Turtlenecks are <em>Ba-aack</em>! <br />
<br />
<br />
Hugh Hefner: 89 and still sporting a bathrobe everywhere he goes. God bless him. <br />
<br />
<br />
From the story:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Playboy will stop publishing photos of nude women. Its website stopped featuring nudity in August, and traffic has since increased from 4 million to 16 million users a month, according to <em>Playboy</em> executives. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
--<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/13/448182158/playboy-magazine-to-stop-publishing-nude-images">'Playboy' to Stop Publishing Nude Images</a></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
What if you were the next model/celebrity/human who was scheduled to appear in the magazine, and then you received a phone call: "Actually, we're all set. But thanks anyway. We're going to focus on art and the economy instead."<br />
You'd be calling your agent stat to see if hell had frozen over.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-48959434441102531182015-09-23T23:17:00.000-04:002015-09-23T23:17:00.330-04:00Please Take This Idea And Run With It<br /><br />
Inspired by this text conversation with a Loved One, who has three children under the age of 5.<br />
<br /><br />
Begins with details about a fishing pole:<br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: They're called Shakespearean poles. Hope you're feeling better and your fever is gone. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: Turns out I have pneumonia. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: Omg pneumonia??</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: Yeah and George has bronchitis</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: We've covered all the respiratory diseases.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: LOL :(</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: Do you need anything? Juice....broth.....less liquid in your lungs....a nanny</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: All of the above</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: What about a business that services SAHM/D with kids ages 0-5. When the parent is sick, they go here; there is an amazing child care center on one side, and then hotel-like suites on the other and the sick parent goes to the suite and stays from 8 - 5 each day. And it is covered by insurance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: You would make bank</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: WHY HAS IT NOT BEEN INVENTED</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: It'd probably just spread diseases faster</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: No because the sick person is Quarantined!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: Hmmm. We should do this</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: Ah know. (<em>pause to realize I don't actually want to run/own/operate such a business, I simply want it to exist)</em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></em><br />
<br /><br />
As I am writing this, my phone starts pinging repeatedly. LO is contemplating "logistical red flags." <br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: Like what?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: Well you'd need a vaccination list for kids ahead of time, then there's allergies, special needs equipment (can't discriminate), transportation if the mom is too sick to drive, then what if the mom gets sicker and needs help</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: Plus I'm sure we'd need insurance and people would have to sign waivers upon arrival</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: What if the child is a 5 year old serial killer?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Me: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">LO: Stuff like that. </span><br />
<br /><br />
<br /><br />
Well. Do what you can with it. I have a few name suggestions if you happen to get such a facility licensed in the near future. Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-89918204775386555252015-09-22T08:51:00.001-04:002015-09-22T08:51:56.226-04:00Changing of the Guard<br />
"Something told him that something was coming to an end. Not the world, exactly. Just the summer. There would be other summers, but there would never be one like this. Ever again."<br />
<br /><br />
---<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1221698.Neil_Gaiman?page=1">Neil Gaiman</a><br />
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<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-63054542353677962112015-09-10T10:35:00.000-04:002015-09-10T10:35:44.619-04:00Studies ShowAn evidence-based ditty by Honor Finnegan<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xXVi4s15YMk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-70212756069171569552015-09-06T14:44:00.000-04:002015-09-06T20:32:26.987-04:00Gertrude's SecretIf a rose by any other name would not smell as sweet, would Victoria's Secret still be as sexy if it went by another name?<br />
<br />
<br />
Five years ago I called to <a href="http://disneyprincessrecovery.blogspot.com/2010/05/hello-bombshell.html">have my name removed from the Victoria's Secret mailing list.</a> I was told my name was removed and yet the mail still kept coming. I just chucked it in the bin and went along with life and then one day a postcard arrived from Gertrude's Secret and it was a coupon for free underwear. No strings attached. You just show up with your postcard and pick up some pantaloons. <br />
<br />
<br />
But they're called panties. <br />
<br />
<br />
I go through phases where I save coupons for random things, stick them in a drawer, and then later clean the drawer and have to throw out a bunch of expired coupons. Because they are never for useful things, like dark chocolate, but for a Free Custard at Rita's, or buy two sheet pizzas and get the third free, or Free Pantaloons at Gertrude's Secret. Not that those don't add to the value of a day, but peripherally so, not integral. <br />
<br />
<br />
Anywho, I had a day where I cleaned that drawer and everything was going to expire in a week. And I became determined to use every coupon before they expired. <br />
<br />
<br />
Have you ever redeemed a free pantloon postcard at VS? <br />
<br />
<br />
Let me give you a peek: <em>nothing is free</em>.<br />
<br />
<br />
I entered the store and asked a sales rep which of the pantaloons qualified. She asked if I'd also like to look at some amazing new bras they had in, as well as beautiful sleep wear. I said no thank you. She asked if I would like to look at their lotions and potions. No thanks, just here for the pantaloons. Of course, she said. She took me on a long and winding tour through the store, pointing out several new items and another set of bras that would change my life. She'd slow at each item and I just waited thinking, Those are not the free pantaloons. <br />
<br />
<br />
At last, we arrived at a table strewn with underwear. Free pantaloons. I selected a pair and got in line. <br />
<br />
<br />
Once at the register the spiel began again. I handed over the drawers and the postcard. The cashier asked if I found everything I was looking for. I said yes. Had I heard of the new hand lotion with sea kelp? No, but I just wanted the<br />
<br />
<br />
or the newly patented bras that would change my life<br />
<br />
<br />
nope just here for the<br />
<br />
<br />
or the super soft and comfy pajama <br />
<br />
<br />
<em>free panties</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
And then there was a silence. And a pause.<br />
<br />
<br />
It was a standoff. <br />
<br />
<br />
Would I walk out with the free panties?<br />
<br />
<br />
Or would I also be purchasing a sea kelp bra that would change my skin tone?<br />
<br />
<br />
Free panties. Thank you.<br />
<br />
<br />
My item was put in a bag and stuffed with excessive pink tissue paper. <br />
<br />
<br />
I came. I saw. I got the free panties. <br />
<br />
Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-45370478764386334242015-09-03T23:57:00.000-04:002015-09-03T23:57:23.210-04:00Margaret Fuller“Nature,” she says, “seems to delight in varying the arrangements, as if to show that she will be fettered by no rule; and we must admit the same varieties that she admits.” <br />
<br />
--Margaret Fuller<br />
from Judith Thurman's <em><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/04/01/an-unfinished-woman">An Unfinished Woman</a></em><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There are 217 Margarets in my family, and not one of them goes by Margaret. This is the only name I know that is given, along with <em>but thou shall be called Clementine</em>. <br />
<br />
<br />
Of the Margarets I know, the variations of non-Margaret <em>thou shall be called </em>names are all unique. <br />
No two non-Margaret names the same.<br />
<br />
<br />
This is probably due to something that Liz Lemon <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-oyIOyOn6k">touched upon</a>, in her despising of St. Paddy's Day, as she wears orange and pranks the parade revelers. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There can never be too many Margarets.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This particular Margaret, I had never heard of until listening to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/books/review/Price-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">Cheever's biography of Louisa May Alcott.</a><br />
<br />
This Margaret went by Margaret. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Cheever, in her biography of Alcott, writes about The Conversations. The Conversations were a thing (official title that) back in the 1800's that were held by folks who had a lot of ideas and energy but couldn't hold a teaching job and were too antsy to write very much for very long. Louisa May Alcott's father became king of these: The Conversations. Because he was kicked out of every school he opened. And because Emerson eventually stopped financially supporting him. <br />
<br />
<br />
To hold a Conversation was to hold a chat about something on which you had a lot of thoughts/ideas/opinions.<br />
<br />
<br />
It was The Internet, in 1840.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Conversations spurred other conversations. (aka The Comments section).<br />
<br />
<br />
Some folks who held Conversations were paid to do this for a living. <br />
(Like banner advertising and sponsored posts)<br />
<br />
<br />
(This post is brought to you by Barry's Tea, though they are not paying me to write about them. I should look into this.)<br />
<br />
<br />
Back to Margaret, aka Margaret. <br />
<br />
<br />
She is next up on my reading list. <br />
<br />
<br />
Here are some Fuller quotes:<br />
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<br />
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<div class="_Fsf kno-fb-ctx" data-ved="0CCAQhFsoADABahUKEwjopIbsuNzHAhXMn4AKHVqpAxc">
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<i>Nature provides exceptions to every rule.</i></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
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</div>
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<i>The especial genius of women I believe to be electrical in movement, intuitive in function, spiritual in tendency.</i></div>
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<em><br /></em></div>
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<div class="_HTf">
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<i>If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.</i></div>
<div class="_Tsf">
<em><br /></em></div>
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</div>
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<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="48" data-mhc="1" style="max-height: 48px;">
<div class="_HTf">
<div class="_Fsf kno-fb-ctx" data-ved="0CCMQhFsoAzABahUKEwjopIbsuNzHAhXMn4AKHVqpAxc">
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<i>I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="_Tsf">
<i>Beware of over-great pleasure in being popular or even beloved.</i></div>
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</div>
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<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="32" data-mhc="1" style="max-height: 32px;">
<div class="_HTf">
<div class="_Fsf kno-fb-ctx" data-ved="0CCUQhFsoBTABahUKEwjopIbsuNzHAhXMn4AKHVqpAxc">
<div class="_Tsf">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="_Tsf">
<i>Very early, I knew that the only object in life was to grow.</i></div>
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<div class="_Fsf kno-fb-ctx" data-ved="0CCYQhFsoBjABahUKEwjopIbsuNzHAhXMn4AKHVqpAxc">
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="_Tsf">
<i>Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="_Tsf">
<i>It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods.</i></div>
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</div>
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<em><br /></em><br />
<div class="xpdxpnd" data-mh="48" data-mhc="1" style="max-height: 48px;">
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<div class="_Fsf kno-fb-ctx" data-ved="0CCgQhFsoCDABahUKEwjylvyHvNzHAhUDz4AKHfx4AGM">
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<i>Essays, entitled critical, are epistles addressed to the public, through which the mind of the recluse relieves itself of its impressions.</i></div>
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<i> </i><br />
<i>Two persons love in one another the future good which they aid one another to unfold.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<br />
<br />
Her selfie (hand drawn due to limiting circumstances.):<br />
<a class="bia uh_rl knavi" href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://a1.files.biography.com/image/upload/c_fit,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,h_1200,q_80,w_1200/MTE4MDAzNDEwNTI4MzM5NDcw.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.biography.com/people/margaret-fuller-9303889&h=1200&w=1200&tbnid=DU8TG-aOStuzAM:&tbnh=186&tbnw=186&usg=__HrtyMmLUnTdrEgHB9655FVeCQrA=&docid=MIBRklq1Azo5nM&itg=1" id="DU8TG-aOStuzAM:" jsaction="fire.ivg_o" role="link" saprocessedanchor="true" style="height: 186px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 186px;" tabindex="0" tag="bia"><img align="middle" alt="Image result for margaret fuller Quotes" border="0" class="iuth" data-deferred="1" height="186" name="imgthumb13" 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" style="margin: 0px;" title="http://www.biography.com/people/margaret-fuller-9303889" width="186" /></a>Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-69345863795684031872015-08-13T03:29:00.000-04:002015-08-13T03:29:17.635-04:00Teenage Dream: What We Learn From Each OtherThe more time I spend with teenagers, the more I'm blown away. <br />
<br /><br />
This letter is a an example of what's in there. <br />
<br /><br />
<a href="http://christineorgan.com/2015/08/10/to-the-teenage-girls-at-the-swimming-pool/">To the Teenage Girls Swimming at the Pool by Christine Organ</a><br />
<br /><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>And then one of you looked me right in the eye and, with a firm gentleness, said, “You will regret it if you leave here today and do not do jump. You will regret it.”</strong></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<strong>“I know,” I whispered. “You’re right.”</strong></blockquote>
Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-71107180766482591032015-07-21T21:38:00.000-04:002015-07-21T21:38:16.756-04:00Farewell, AtticusI had decided not to read <u>Go Set A Watchman</u> because this: there is enough reality in the world and I want to keep my fictional heroes intact. <br />
If I don't read it, Atticus doesn't have to become too human and that's how I like it. <br />
<br /><br />
This evening Miss C and I went to the library to watch a movie that was playing in the community room, <em>Into the Woods</em>. I love movies at the library. When the audience is young enough, there are kids yelling at the screen. Tonight was an older crowd and at the end, people applauded. It was pretty cute but I didn't understand why. Because it was a projector. <br />
<br /><br />
On our way out, Miss C picked up a few books and we went to check out. Our favorite librarian made eyes at a book on the counter that had just been returned. She leaned conspiratorially toward me, "Do you want it?" I looked down. It was <u>Go Set A Watchman,</u> <br />
<br /><br />
"Is it IN!" I grabbed the book. Apparently I'm ready for the fall of Atticus. "Is it available?"<br />
<br /><br />
"7 day loan," she said. And checked it out to me. <br />
<br /><br />
Miss C was not understanding the fuss, so the librarian and I started simultaneously explaining the fuss, the first book, the controversy. <br />
By the time we got home I was still talking about the book and she quietly walked into the living room, picked up a pair of ear buds, turned to me and placed them in her ears. They were connected to nothing. Dangling cord but ears stuffed. Point made. <br />
<br /><br />
I'd fully committed to <u>The Goldfinch</u> for the next 9 years, but I'm taking a detour and bracing myself for the fall of a giant of justice and hoping that at least Scout is intact at the end of this journey. <br />
<br /><br />
<br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-91062085197368012902015-07-06T23:28:00.000-04:002015-07-06T23:44:51.603-04:00Golly<img alt="USA v Japan: Final - FIFA Women's World Cup 2015" src="http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2015/07/06/6-world-cup.w529.h352.2x.jpg" height="265" itemprop="contentUrl" width="400" /> <br />
<figcaption itemprop="caption"><cite><span style="color: #888888;">Photo: Ronald Martinez/2015 Getty Images</span></cite> </figcaption><figcaption itemprop="caption"><br /><br />
My dad used to tell these soccer stories about myself, my brothers. We always were the star player though there was a team of 11 on the field. We always were kicking arse and taking names. <br />
We always cleared the ball, scored the goal, or had an assist. <br />
Occasionally the stories were true.<br />
<br /><br />
This is called the side-door brag. Where someone tells a nice story about you. And occasionally it is true.<br />
<br /><br />
My dad used to tell these stories over and over and we'd go, "Dad, enough already."<br />
<br /><br />
Then last night, in a packed pub in Maine, among mostly strangers and one soul-wonderful friend, I looked around at all the men and women who were glued to the big screen. I looked at the full stadium on the big screen. And I suddenly felt the urge to tell a story my dad used to tell, which begins and ends in one sentence. It is actually a fragment:<br />
<br /><br />
When I played against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_Wambach">Abby Wambach</a>.<br />
<br /><br />
The rest of it would go: <em>we always lost/ she always scored a lot of goals/ it always looked effortless/ golly/ we'd assign 4 defenders to her/we still always lost</em><br />
<br /><br />
My friend had introduced me to the term "back-door brag," a casual mention of something you want people to know buried in an unnecessary context.<br />
<br /><br />
Also to the term "Irish-goodbye," where one gets up from a social gathering, says they are going to use the bathroom, get a drink, be right back, and never returns.<br />
<br /><br />
And I have determined that this is neither back door nor side door brag. It is a front door acknowledgement of wonder: my team got occasionally killed by her team and <em>how cool is that?</em><br />
<br /><br />
I'm going to get a drink now. I'll be right back. </figcaption> <br />Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769349339576283724.post-29942174604165271882015-06-24T11:59:00.000-04:002015-06-24T12:01:05.962-04:00The Fantasy Film of Therapists EverywhereI went to see Inside Out and loooooved it. <br />
<br />
It's like the film Being John Malkovich, except more appropriate for children, and more appropriate for adults too. <br />
<br />
Can I just say: how wonderful that Disney co-created a movie in which the main characters are the <i>emotions</i> operating an 11 year old girl's brain? I just got all tingly writing that. Joy!<br />
<br />
<br />
When Anger, Joy, Sadness, Disgust and Fear are at the helm, there is far more action and adventure than in all 17 Terminator movies multiplied by Die Hard with Avengers on Fury Road. That's a total fact. <br />
<br />
<br />
Looking forward to Inside Out: Puberty (3-D). <br />
On the big screen, not in real life.<br />
I like a tidy 90 minute experience as much as the next escapist. Mary Finucanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972900058999375075noreply@blogger.com0