Weeding out the Slackers

I escaped from work before six yesterday, and my mom and I got a big load of mulch and compost plus two plants at Breed hardware, and spent the evening weeding, planting, and spreading mulch. So my front garden looks better, and I hope the mulch will keep the weeds from sprouting up again so quickly.

Even after spending all day Sunday on tax-related stuff, I’m still not sure if I can claim my previous credit or not, so I ended up filing an extension. I thought I’d be able to use my AMT and investment credits, but I couldn’t get it to work out that way, so I guess I need to leave it to the experts.

I got lots of good exercise yesterday from pulling weeds, and hauling sacks of mulch, but I’m planning to ride on my exercise bike for a while this evening. I think that getting more exercise on a consistent basis, and not feeling as if I’m sliding into sloth could make me feel more optimistic about life in general. Now that I have proclaimed my intention to exercise tonight, it will be more difficult to wriggle out of my obligation to myself.

The NY Times Published My Letter!

The Sunday New York Times printed my letter to the editor yesterday, so I’m pretty psyched! Here’s the link to the letters page. (The missing spaces in the online version did not originate with me, by the way--maybe they should hire me as a copyeditor.)

Here’s the original article. And here's my letter:

Weil quotes the bioethicist David Wasserman, who, citing research, claims, “Families with severely impaired children do not differ significantly in stresses and burdens from families with normal children.” Try telling that to the mother of a blind child with congenital heart failure whose mental age will forever be 6 months. Parents of children with severe disabilities must provide round-the-clock supervision and care. Then there's the enormous cost of specialized medical equipment and supplies, and the heartache of constant medical crises and setbacks. Parents of severely impaired children also worry about who will care for their children after they're gone, and few have malpractice-settlement trust funds to rely on.

Julia E.S. Spencer
Austin, Tex.

Oscar Party 2006

Here's my invite from 2006. Yee haw!

Howdy!

Yes, I’m having my annual party this coming Sunday, March 5th. The basics are as follows: Come over @6:30 p.m. before the show starts for drinks and munchies and to get a seat. There will be a prize for the person who correctly guesses the most Oscar winners. As always, I encourage wearing costumes and/or dressing up – why should celebrities have all the fun?

Some relevant articles:
Willie Nelson's cowboy song
Box office achievements of 2005
Gay penguins

Comments on the Cartoon Violence

When I was a child, I learned the hard way that being hypersensitive to teasing and ridicule would only encourage my tormentors. This is a lesson that fundamentalist Muslims rioting over the publication of political cartoons seemingly have yet to learn. There are no guarantees in life that your religious or political beliefs will never be challenged or criticized, no matter how hard you may try to insulate yourself from the outside world. I dare say that if a faith or its practice is so fragile that it cannot withstand even the slightest criticism or exposure to other beliefs, perhaps it could use some revision. I also wonder why the rioting Muslims think that Allah is so weak or defenseless that he requires human apologists. Furthermore, the Muslim religion not only prohibits depicting the Prophet Mohammed, but also any other person, animal, or plant, a restriction that gives rise to intricate abstractions in its peoples’ art. But non-Muslims are not bound by the strictures of Islam; if they were, there would be no cartoons at all, not to mention lingerie advertisements. The mere existence of figurative art is not an affront to Islam, and neither is the existence of artwork that is not obscene or patently offensive, but that merely draws a link between followers of Mohammed and terrorism. It is a fact that all of the 9/11 bombers were Muslim, so if devout adherents wish to address an outrage against Islam and Allah, perhaps they should begin with that one.

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Try Telling That to Keith

Well, now we know that Dubya comes by his “compassion” and his “foot in mouth” disease honestly—from both sides of the family.

On a serious note, I was at the Austin Convention Center on Sunday, and was talking to a man named Keith who had lost not just his home but his entire family—wife and kids—just gone. He was really shell-shocked, so I didn’t press him for details, but he had the otherworldly look of someone who had to stand by helplessly while his loved ones died. Oh, and he didn’t get rescued until the Sunday after the hurricane.

So, Bar, how would you say things were “working out” for him?

Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans

By E&P Staff
Published: September 05, 2005

NEW YORK Accompanying her husband, former President George H.W. Bush, on a tour of hurricane relief centers in Houston, Barbara Bush said today, referring to the poor who had lost everything back home and evacuated, "This is working very well for them."

The former First Lady's remarks were aired this evening on American Public Media's "Marketplace" program.

She was part of a group in Houston today at the Astrodome that included her husband and former President Bill Clinton, wlho were chosen by her son, the current president, to head fundraising efforts for the recovery. Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were also present.

In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says ‘we're going to move to Houston.’"

Then she added: "What I’m hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

"And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."