I (heart) Etsy

I love this place. What a cool group of talented crafters! I just bought this awesome t-shirt (original design) from Cirrus Skooter and this super cool necklance from Sweetheart Sinner.

For the first time, the phrase "not available in stores" has a positive connotation.

And congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies! World Champs!

I Forgot to Add ....

Providence stations WHJY and WBRU (the 2 stations I grew up listening to) are unusually fond of Flies in the Vaseline by Stone Temple Pilots. I hear it constantly. I wonder if there is some kind of underground cult thing going on and this song is a signal to its members to stop what they are doing and rush back to the base camp for a human sacrifice.

Can you tell that I just watched Rosemary's Baby?

Providence, You're My Home

Well, we've been in our new home for a couple of months now. Things aren't the same as when I was a kid. Here are few things I've noticed about the "new" Providence, so far:

Meat Markets
All my life, I've always thought of a meat market as a place where Sam the Butcher works. But then they sort of went away when grocery stores expanded their meat departments. It's also a figure of speech. "Oh, Mah-gie, don't go thay-ah! It's a wicked meat maaaahkit!" Well, much to my shock, Providence is riddled with places called meat markets. Maybe they are more like convenience stores or little mini groceries. I am not epi-curious about them.

Downcity
This is a term that the locals use instead of "downtown." You know what? I thought it had potential to be a little annoying, but I actually kind of like it.

Very Slow Drivers
I am a woman of little patience and no one in Providence seems to be in a hurry to get anywhere. This is probably good for me. I need to slow down and maybe not listen to my music at such high volumes in the car. There are nice big turning lanes in the middle of a lot of main streets and I think this is rather convenient. Jere hates it. He also hates the jughandles in New Jersey. I love those things! How can you not? I used to live right next to one in the town of Mapleshade. Word to the wise: If you are under 30, you have no business living in Mapleshade.

Spanish Food Trucks
When Stacia came to visit, she said that they all over in the greater LA area. I had never seen them before, but you know, Boston is Crackerville. These trucks have a flag in the back alerting the masses as to whether or not they are serving food from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru, the DR, etc.

Diversity
Hands down, much more diverse than Boston. Big, big points there.

Home of Spike's
Davis Square in Somerville and the corner of Boylston and Mass Ave are the only Spikes locations in the Boston area (to my knowledge). Jere and I are very fond of their veggie dogs, which they offer in place of meat dogs and in any of their varieties. We went to one in Cranston and the owner was there with the 3rd generation Spike bulldog who was smelling around for a free floating french fry. So, we sort of surmised that Spike's is a Rhode Island deal.

And, Dunkin Donuts Arena or what ever you call yourself now - you don't fool me! You'll always be the Civic Cent-ah! I saw a lot of concerts there when I was a kid, including Brian Adams. I was about 13 years old and he was in the middle of his "Reckless" tour. (I wish I could say that my first concert experience was not so lame, but this is all I've got.) Anyway, I went with Chrissy, a friend of my dad's colleague. All of a sudden, Chrissy turned to me and said, "I think I smell pot!" Of course, I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. Is that what pot is? It was the smell that was in my living room all the time. This is the first time I realized my dad wasn't like other dads.

Phillies Win Game 1!

Way to rock the Kasmir, boys!

Stuck in the Middle with No One

I always gravitate toward the places no one really goes. I like the products that get discontinued. I enjoy the television shows that get canned. I spent a good part of my youth listening to Rush. Enough said.

I cut mammals out of my diet several years ago. There is no label for this other than pollo-pescetarian or whatever. Last year, I cut out birds. Now, I am strictly pescetarian. This is comfortable for me, at this point in time. I might take this to another place some day, I don't know. But try explaining that to the rest of the world.

Mammal eaters tend not to respect anyone who cuts meat out of their diet. Some are very hostile about it. A few people I consider to be really good friends have made me feel ashamed for choosing to avoid them.

Vegetarians think I'm nuts. And they actually get mad at pescetarians because a lot of us tend to label ourselves vegetarians. I don't know why. We aren't vegetarians. I've heard that for some people, it's just easier that way. Otherwise, you have to keep pamphlets at the ready, explaining it.

I think that the poor vegans are never satisfied with their own veganism, let alone considering anyone else's dietary choices. It's not easy to be vegan and I respect those who accept this lifestyle and make this commitment.

People who know me realize that I am easy like Sunday morning. I really, really, really hate being preached to. Really. Really, really, really hate it. I try very hard not to preach. Even when it's very good information and done with the best of intentions, in a loving way. I cringe when people use their celebrity status to tell the world how wrong they are about something. I listen to NPR, I am informed, I make my own decisions. I am an only child, so I spent quite enough time feeling lousy about myself. I don't need to be scolded, browbeaten or shunned by society. I just wish we could all do our thing without judgement or criticism. If I brush my teeth standing on my head, it's because I want to. I am aware that my blood is rushing to my brain and that this might not be the best way to do it, but this is my preference so leave me alone.

Of course, I have to go and choose a diet that confuses most of the world. It makes perfect sense to me, but we are so caught up in all of our labels. I'm a [fill in the blank] are you a [fill in the blank]? I use them because I have to, but I think it's stupid. What if I wanted to be vegan, but still eat fish? This is actually a very appealing idea to me, but, unfortunately, I would be fucking with the whole order of things and we can't have that.

Completely unrelated: I am so very disappointed that the Red Sox didn't make it to the WS, but they played their hearts out and walked away with dignity (as opposed to losing in 5). I will be paying attention to the WS, but not hanging on every pitch. I've got lots of soap to make an whatnot.

Thursday Night at Fenway Park

I can't quite sum it up as well as Jere, so please check out his posts!

Phillies

I've had the occassion to live in the greater Philadelphia area twice. Once, a stone's throw from the infamous "Rocky Balboa" art museum steps. During my second go, I became quite a fan of the Phillies. They are a pretty likable team, overall. When Ryan Howard joined the club, I swooned. I am still a little in love with the guy and I'm really pleased that they are going to the World Series.

Here's where I am torn, of course. If the Red Sox can manage to string together 3 more wins, then they'd be going, too. I understand just how unlikely this is, even though the '04 and '07 WS victories were won when their backs were up against the wall in the ALCS. Big difference, though. In '04, the Sox were playing a Yankee team that was showing lots of wear and tear. Determined not to experience a repeat of '03, the hungry Sox wound up advancing. Last year, I am not sure what happened, but the Sox were so much better than a team falling behind in a series with Cleveland. Seriously. This year, these Rays mean business. And it is not a convenient time for Beckett and Lester to poop out.

Jere and I will be at the game tonight. I hope the Sox can squeak out a win. If not, I'll be pulling my old Phillies t-shirt out of my closet and rooting hard for them.

Bad, Flip Flop! Bad!

I started developing a problem with my right foot. One day, I noticed that I had a bruise the size of a fist right in my arch. Just as this started going away, I began feeling shooting pains and soreness in my inner heel whenever I took a step. This doesn't really bother me much when I wear heels or shoes with decent support. My self diagnosis? Freaking flip flops. I've been wearing them all summer and since we moved into the new house, there's been lots of stair climbing. I read that podiatrists everywhere are furious with the number of foot injuries and problems from chromic flip-flop use. Outside of lack of support, people have slipped and fallen more frequently (ever wear them in the rain?). They've even gotten their flip flops caught in the pedals of their cars.

So, though I don't think I can give them up entirely, I will not be wearing them all summer long in the future. I can't believe I have to wear heels to feel better!

Nullipara

Is it me or is this a really ugly sounding word? Do you know what it means? "A woman who has never given birth." Nice, huh?

It's not my fault that I don't want kids. I am not fighting an instinct or anything. I have never in my entire life felt the *pang* of motherhood or whatever it is that people describe. In fact, the older I get, the more motherhood scares me. I have tried to locate these pangy feelings. I have closed my eyes and concentrated reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hard. Nothing. Am I defective? Maybe they can come up with some kind of medication that addresses this "problem" of mine.

The idea of adopting a child from an orphanage is a lot more appealing to me, truth be told. I'd like to pick up where the Republicans leave off and actually give a kid a fighting chance in this world. I guess if I did this, I'd still be a nullipara, though, huh?

I should say for the record that none of my friends have EVER made me feel lousy for not having reproduced. Very few of my friends actually have children, so I am not the odd person out, by any means. And I do like kids - I think they are cute and quirky and silly and funny. I just don't really have a desire to have them myself.

I just wish my parents would have had another child to take this pressure off of me. My mother obviously wants a grandchild and I oscillate between wanting to please her and getting really pissed that this burden of "only child responsibility" is seemingly never-ending. I think I've been a good kid to her, made her proud. I hope that just because I don't plan on checking this one little box, she isn't going to hold it against me. Besides, she can always adopt one if she misses children that much!

Boston Advances!

We are moving on to another series with the Rays, except this time it's a playoff series. Who would have thunk it? A playoff series with the Rays?

I can't help but feel bad for Scioscia and the Angels. They hate our winning asses. We shut the door on their World Series dreams time and time again. At least it wasn't a sweep this time. Eh, I'm over it. When we won in '04, the reign began. (I hope I'm not committing baseball hubris here. If we can't beat Tampa Bay, you know who to blame.)

Onion Headline

I love The Onion, don't you? Check out this recent story.



Painful game last night. 12 innings. Ugh.

Religulous

Jere and I went to see Bill Maher's Religulous last night. Very gutsy film, I must say. Maher plays the part of the little kid in The Emperor's New Clothes, basically pointing out how silly it is to believe in talking snakes and immaculate conception. It's pretty funny stuff, but it also points out the painfully obvious. He goes after most religions except for Buddhism (I mean, really ... is there one man who keeps getting born over and over in newer incarnations? I love the Dahli Lama and all, but come on) and Satanism (doesn't even merit his time, as far as I am concerned). It was a pretty brilliant film.

I almost agree with him on this topic.

I just can't help but think that to suggest that people give up their religions and "grow up" as he says, it feels a lot like censorship. Which I adamantly oppose. Religion, as nutty as it can be, is still a belief and it is unconstitutional to imply that there ought not be any. I am not religious, therefore I don't preach.

You can argue that religion has caused a great deal of harm, tragedy and needless death. True. And it still does. Or does it? I think *crazy* is responsible for that. Not words on a page or ideologies or strange costumes. I wouldn't blame Marilyn Manson for all the deaths at Columbine. So, I am not prepared to tell that sweet old lady down the street who dresses up every Sunday and congregates with her friends, sings a few songs, chews on a cardboard wafer and somehow enjoys it all to suddenly stop doing it. The crazies should be punished for their actions. The bastard priests who molest little children should be thrown in jail as should anyone who does anything unlawful, whether it be in the name of religion or not. The Son of Sam claimed that a dog next door told him to commit murder. Is it the dog's fault that these women were terrorized and killed?

I am not saying that I don't see an obvious connection between organized religion and needless death, but I think it's wrong to take away the beliefs of those who are otherwise harmless, lawful people because of the crazies who use religion as an excuse to harm other people. Would they not be crazy anyway? Do they need the bible or the Koran to make them nuts? People will always invent some reason to be immoral.

Live and let live. Who am I to tell you what you should and shouldn't believe? That there is a right way and a wrong way? If we start doing that, then what? Should I go after the fashion industry, too, because of their insistence that I wear specific articles of clothing simply because they've deemed them necessary, but only for one season? I think that is beyond foolish, but I'm not going to tell friends and coworkers to stop following trends. It's really none of my business.

I still say that the movie is great and you all should definitely see it.