Hamster Cage and Lotion

I love Freecycle. It's such a smart idea. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Freecycle allows people to post any unwanted items they have available. If you see something that catches your eye, you contact them and it's all yours.

I've seen free couches, tables, desks, chairs, eliptical machines, toys, building supplies, fabric and clothing. I've seen two women's mountain bikes offered. Each time I responded just a little too late. So sad. A bike is what I'm really hoping for. Until then, I enjoy seeing what people have to offer. Sometimes it is the most random junk. Last week I saw someone offer two bottles of hotel shampoo. Who thinks someone wants hotel shampoo? Today someone offered a Hamster cage and lotion, together. That made me curious. Maybe they're in the animal testing business?

In Rainbows!

Hip-Hip-Hooray!! Aaron and I will be joining a few thousand others in Charlotte NC to see Radiohead May 9th. I"m so happy I'm seeing Rainbows.

Long In City Pent

To one who has been long in city pent
-John Keats


TO one who has been long in city pent,
’Tis very sweet to look into the fair
And open face of heaven,—to breathe a prayer
Full in the smile of the blue firmament.
Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,
Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair
Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair
And gentle tale of love and languishment?
Returning home at evening, with an ear
Catching the notes of Philomel,—an eye
Watching the sailing cloudlet’s bright career,
He mourns that day so soon has glided by:
E’en like the passage of an angel’s tear
That falls through the clear ether silently.

I feel like one who is "too long in city pent" so Hurray for President's Day!! It's supposed to be a lovely 53 degrees and I don't have to go to work. Time to go hiking! I'm thinking I'll try to do the Brown Mountain 10 mile loop or there's a 12 miler that's supposed to be pretty spectacular farther south. Either way, I need a hiking buddy since Aaron refuses to skip class. Let me know if you are interested.

Time to Write Your Senator

When I read the article "Courting Disaster" by Stephanie Mencimer my jaw dropped. Then I wanted to punch something or scream or march to Washington. I don't want to have all the fun so take a gander at the first three paragraphs of her article:

Lilly Ledbetter got her 15 minutes of fame, but a little press won't cover the mortgage. The 59-year-old mother of two had spent 19 years working at the Goodyear tire factory in Gadsden, Alabama, as one of the few women in a supervisory position. In 1998, after learning she'd been getting paid far less than men doing similar jobs, she sued Goodyear under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, alleging gender discrimination in the performance evaluations that had resulted in her lower pay. Five years later, with the backing of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ledbetter won a $3.8 million jury verdict against the company. But Goodyear appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against Ledbetter last June. The court's conservative faction concluded that Ledbetter was obliged to sue within 180 days of receiving her first discriminatory paycheck, and was therefore out of luck.

The 5-4 decision reversed decades of established law in most states. The EEOC had long held that each discriminatory paycheck resets the clock on the statute of limitations, so that workers could sue from the time they learned of the pay disparity, not from the date the disparity began. That makes sense: Most people don't know what their colleagues are paid, and many companies actively forbid workers from discussing their salaries on the job. Ledbetter only learned how badly she was underpaid after someone put an anonymous note in her mailbox listing the salaries of some of the factory's male supervisors—by that time, she'd been getting smaller paychecks for years.

The Supreme Court ruling effectively prevents anyone from suing under federal equal-pay laws, and creates a perverse incentive: So long as an employer manages to keep an employee's discriminatory compensation under wraps for six months, he or she is then free to continue discriminating against the worker without fear of lawsuits. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was so outraged by the majority decision that she read her scathing dissent from the bench. "In our view, the court does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination," she said, and urged Congress to "correct this parsimonious reading" of the civil rights law.

YOu GO Ruth Bader Ginsburg!!! As for the rest of those other 5 judges, who gave them that job? What are THEY thinking? I can understand wanting to cut down on the number of law suits but this is the best idea they can come up with? Making sure no equal pay suit can come to trial? Way to go GUYS, thanks for a better America.

Now the only way to blunt their ruling is to get Congress to do some legislation. I'm writing my senator. I urge you to do the same.

And I'm never buying Good Year Tires again.

You can read more about the case here and here.

A Poem for Valentine's

A Sonnet

By Alice Duer Miller


DEAR, if you love me, hold me most your friend,
Chosen from out the many who would bear
Your gladness gladly—heavily your care;
Who best can sympathize, best comprehend,
Where others fail; who, breathless to the end,
Follows your tale of joy or of despair.
Hold me your counsellor, because I dare
To lift my hand to guide you, that I lend
My love to help you. And I would you knew
That I am fair enough to win men’s hearts,
If so I willed; yet honor me above
All other women, since I am too true
To trap you with my sex’s smaller arts.
Deem me all these, but love me as your love.

V-Day

In middle school and high school I was never anyone's Valentine. The french club sold carnations for a buck and delivered them through out the day. All the popular kids would end up with bouquets. I think I got a carnation once from my sister. It was nice but not really the stuff that teenage dreams are made of. But thanks to my mother's enthusiasm (It's her birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!), I still learned to love the holiday.
By the time I went to college, I still cut out paper hearts and gave my friends Valentines but never managed to have a current relationship going in time to cash in. Four years ago, Aaron and I had been hanging out a fair bit, one might even say dating for a few months but the boy wouldn't kiss me. So about a week before Valentines Day we broke up. To ignore the sting of singleness on the day of love I arranged an escape to SLC for my friends. To my surprise Aaron showed up. We saw the Triplets of Belville, ate a disgusting amount of candy hearts, went to a light show, and had a midnight dinner at Dennys. And Aaron kissed me!! Exactly six months to the day we got married.
Valentine's Day is the anniversary of our first kiss and our half year anniversary, so when Aaron suggested not celebrating the made up commercial holiday I went off on him. He recanted and promised to get with the program, but Aaron is sneaky. Come Feb 14th 2005, Aaron spent the whole day violently ill with the flu. I think he managed to tell me he loved me in between throwing up. The next year he slipped away on a business trip. The year after that he did really well, he made dinner reservations, got me my timbuk2 bag which I love but then our ceiling caved in. After so much misfortune, I'm a little nervous about what might happen tomorrow. I have to admit, I'm having a hard time feeling it this year. Which is probably good because Aaron already admitted that he waited to long to get a reservation and we'll probably be hanging out at home tomorrow. Anyone want a baby-sitter?

The Big Day

I've been looking forward to tomorrow for weeks but I thought by now I would have made up my mind. I mean, I did make up my mind, then I decided to unmake it, then make it again. I'm sad to admit I'm the worst of worsts in politics: a flip-flopper!
I think my casual flip-flopping has a lot to do with my satisfaction with several of the candidates. They're level headed, respectful, and pro-environment. Check out their enviro stances here.

They're a nice looking bunch with one exception. I like Obama. I like Clinton. I even like McCain, aside from the hundred years in Iraq business. But Huck? I'll let him speak for himself: Huckabee: "I'm not saying Mormonism is a Satanic cult, just asking." I'm not saying the man is a religious bigot whose son hung a dog at scout camp, just asking.
So I've eliminated one. Now what?
Here are a few of my thoughts. I'm happy to hear anyone else's opinion.

Obama
He's new, he's fresh, he's smart. He's a leader in the make you believe in America sort of way. He's electable. He can capture independents. The media loves him. The man could reshape America and the press seems ready to roll out the red carpet for him to walk on while doing it. I don't think he can be stopped. Another plus for me, the more I learn, the more I really love Michelle Obama. The woman is brilliant and seems as ready to make things happen as her husband.
BUT can he get everything he believes in done??? or is he a Jimmy Carter?

Hillary
She's an INCREDIBLE politician. The woman has skills. I believe she can get anything she sets her mind to done. She has specific policies developed and knows how to implement them.
I have a hard time believing the people who see her as a radical liberal demon have ever listened to the woman speak. She's measured and moderate and works well across the aisle. I think most people's Hilary hate comes from their deep seated hostility to female power. That makes me want her to win.
BUT - she is old school Washington with a lot of special interest money. And nothing will bring out the Rep vote like Hilary

McCain
I've watched McCain for years and been impressed by his work. Some examples of the causes he's fought for that I believe in: Immigration, Campaign finance reform, environmental standards, Opposition to torture, and on and on. I always thought McCain was the most attractive Republican in the senate.
BUT He's Old Washington too. And Iraq - I feel in many ways McCain is the most realistic about the situation over there but at the same time I feel like military spending is so out of control that it's undermining our economy. I don't feel like McCain would be equipped to remedy that.

If you think I'm wrong or want to offer any helpful facts, I'm open to them. I'll probably be voting tomorrow afternoon.