Random Thoughts From Marybeth

Anorexia Bulimia Video

A picture really is worth a thousand words. I think this video is more powerful than most lectures on the subject of eating disorders would be.

Anorexia Bulimia Contact - Watch more videos here*

* I altered the code when I embedded this. It originally said, "Watch more funny videos here" and there is nothing funny about this one.

And This Is Only ONE of the Several Rights It Would Violate

Dan Simpson has written an op-ed for the Toledo Blade describing how to disarm America.

I know that Kentucky's constitution guarantees the "right to bear arms in defense of themselves and of the State" but what about Ohio's? Hmm, it says, "The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but standing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power."

It sounds as if Ohio prefers (or at least preferred) armed civilians to an armed government. That makes it a bit difficult for this:

Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All firearms would be seized. The owners of weapons found in the searches would be prosecuted: $1,000 and one year in prison for each firearm.

(Link via QandO)

I Never Thought It Would Happen

Alec Baldwin finally said something I agree with - 'If I never acted again I couldn't care less'

Girls and Guns

Emma went to OpenRange today and took a gun safety class. Before the class she wasn't sure that she would ever want to shoot a gun but I thought that learning gun safety along with proper handling and reinforcing respect for firearms was a good idea since we have guns in the house.

By the end of the class, she did want to try shooting just to see what it was like. Now we have a new enthusiast. She shot well and is looking forward to going back to the range with me. It may not be the most common mother/daughter activity but it is a nice alternative to shopping.

I Was Looking For a Book About Lebanese, Really!

A Bentonville, Ark., man is seeking $20,000 from the city after his two teenage sons found a book on lesbian sex on a public library bookshelf.

He also wants the library director fired.

Earl Adams said his 14- and 16-year-old sons were "greatly disturbed" after finding the book, titled "The Whole Lesbian Sex Book." Adams said the book caused "many sleepless nights in our house."

Books in libraries are arranged by subject so what were they looking for when they found this book? My guess the disturbance and sleepless nights have more to do with getting found out than with what they read.

Want to know if your library has this (or another) book? WorldCat lets you see if a book or other material is available at a library near you.

Defense/Offense, There Is a Difference

In recent days, two clerks at two different stores have attacked would-be robbers.

I wouldn't use the word "attacked" to describe self-defense and I'm not in complete agreement with this - "But Louisville Metro police public information officer Dwight Mitchell said both clerks were lucky that they didn’t get themselves hurt. He said employees should comply with robbers’ demands, be good witnesses and not take aim at robbers."

Every situation is different and you shouldn't take foolish risks but if you have an advantage, there is no reason to encourage robbers by being a "good" victim.

"Truth" is Debatable, "Inconvenient" is Definite

The New York Times has a column about wealthy women doing their part for the environment. Their part seems to be more cameo than leading role.

My first thought when I saw the photo that accompanied the column was that boots appear to be the footwear to wear with skirts. Either that or the whole global warming thing isn't coming through quite fast enough. I don't follow fashion so I really can't tell.

I love this part - "Ms. Rockefeller wanted four kits, one as a gift to her housekeeper." So thoughtful. I wonder if she gives her chef a gift card to a chain restaurant to celebrate holidays or other special occasions.

Superfluous Points

I keep hearing the phrase "data points". It's being used in conversations that have nothing to do with statistics or plotting data on a graph but instead as a substitute for "information". What's wrong with simply saying "data"? Or even better, if it's a non-technical discussion, "information"?

Manner/Manor

The correct phrase is "to the manner born" not "to the manor born". It comes from Hamlet:

But to my mind--though I am native here,
And to the manner born--it is a custom
More honor'd in the the breach than the observance.

It's easy to see why the two are confused. The words sound the same and although Hamlet was expressing his distaste with the local tendency towards drunkeness, it is most often used now to describe someone born to wealth or privilege (someone who could have been born in a manor).

You can use it when you are talking about someone who follows local/family tradition or instead of saying, "it's in his genes".

Some Balance

The shootings at Virginia Tech were tragic but it was not the fault of video games, movies/TV, the war in Iraq, or any of the other things you hear getting blamed. The only one to blame is Cho Seung-Hui.

Events such as this have an impact on us because they are uncommon. There are about 75 million students in the U.S. The vast majority of them return home safely every day.

Lowry Park Zoo: Harrell Discovery Center

Our flight home on Friday wasn't until 5:00 so after we checked out of the hotel we spent some time at Tampa's zoo. These are a couple of photos I took in the Discovery Center.

There were some interesting animals and animal-related exhibits in the Discovery Center, including a drawer with samples of animal poop (sorry, no photo of that). It also had the added benefit of being inside...something we all appreciated since we got sunburned on our trip to Egmont Key. After a couple of days of rain our enthusiasm for sunshine got the better of us and we forgot to apply sunscreen frequently enough.

Dolphins!

It rained all day Tuesday but on Wednesday we had perfect weather for a trip to Egmont Key. The captain of the ferry we took did an excellent job of attracting dolphins which played in the wake of the boat.

Time For a New Nickname

We arrived in the 'Sunshine State" yesterday. I still haven't seen any sunshine.

Within three hours of our arrival someone was telling me about how the weather was unusually cool and wet. That is probably the single most common thing I hear on my vacations. I end droughts and cool hot weather. Clone me and we won't have to worry about global warming.

On the upside, I am building a nice collection of sweatshirts from what are usually warm places.

Our Competition Are Barbarians, We're Just Inconsiderate

Moment - A brief, indefinite interval of time.

I am on hold waiting to talk to someone from my credit card company to tell them that I will be traveling next week so that they won't put a block on the card since I'll be using it outside of my area.

For about an hour* they have been telling me that someone will be with me in a moment. A message that gives the estimated hold time would be much better. That would let me decide whether it's worth waiting now or if I should try later. The only consolation is that I'm not having to sit on hold while on vacation.

*This doesn't include the time it took to figure out how to talk to a real person instead of just listening to prerecorded messages in their phone tree. After finding a real person, I was told that I needed to speak to someone in the fraud department and let them know I would be out of my usual area. She transferred my call to the other department.

Update (2:40): After about an hour and a quarter of waiting on hold my call was cut off.

Update (4:55): Called again and spoke to a customer service representative. I got the direct number for calling the fraud department (I couldn't find that number on their website). I called the fraud department and got right through. If you can consider listening to two different welcome messages and having to punch in my card number twice to be "right through". I did get to speak to a real person though. The only problem is that their systems are updating and I was told to call back in three to four hours.

Calling them "inconsiderate" in the title of this post may have been a poor choice of words. It's just that the other words I considered aren't ones that I want my kids to read.

Local Freezing

On Monday the temperature was in the 80s. This is what it's like today.

The red and green of the azalea bush with the snow would be a festive holiday decoration...if it were almost Christmas instead of Easter.

Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide

John Stossel asked some kids, "What do you think is more dangerous, a house with a pool or a house with a gun?"

Too bad he didn't ask mine. They all know the right answer.

I'm Not Feeling the Love

Recently Amazon has included t-shirts that say "I do whatever my rice crispies tell me to do" and "I did not escape...they gave me a day pass" in the list of "recommended for you". Funny? Yes. Flattering? No.

I know I'm perfectly sane. My cats told me so.

Mmmmmmm, pie...

While I was out yesterday I discovered that Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen opened a new location near me. There are several other locations in the area but this is the first one I've been to. I can't explain this oversight and now that I've tasted some of the pies, I regret not having visited them before.

I bought a slice each of Dutch apple, pecan, Maine blueberry, chocolate chess, and Shaker sugar pie. Some of the ones I wanted to try were sold out so I'll be going back soon to sample further.

Where Ignorance is Bliss...

Some schools in the UK are avoiding teaching about the Holocaust and the Crusades so they won't offend Muslim students. Also, at one school there have been complaints from Christian parents about how the Arab-Israeli conflict is taught. (No mention on whether those lessons were dropped.)

In the U.S. there has been controversy over the desire of some Christians to have creationism taught in schools. Imagine if the schools decided to go a step further and stop teaching evolution because it might offend someone.

I Wander Thro' Each Chartcr'd Street

Google map directions from my city to London. Step #20 is going to be a bit rough.