Thoughts

I don't see the point in surrounding yourself with people who only tell you what you want to hear and sort of throwing off those who don't.
It is an observation I've had for a while, experienced and well... get tired of.  Maybe some people get miffed by my honesty, who knows...
Perhaps I am just a bit annoyed by some behaviors of people I know recently.

When you have to focus on you and not devote your every waking moment to others, it kind of sticks out who stays around and who doesn't.

My life changed, focuses changed, and my time available changed, and the reaction of some to that has been quite astonishing and upsetting, while those who understand are awesome people and I truly appreciate them more.  What is funny is that some of my best friends have as little time as I do, and they find the time to talk, be encouraging, joke and just be there, even when they live hours away... while others... obviously have other things to do.

I have homework today, as I do every day lol...grad school... and I am going to push this annoyance to the side. A friend is picking me up later for some time out, I appreciate it very much. 

On a more positive note...

Both dogs have taken over the couch and are snoring as they do every day...the life of dogs lol.  The babies room will probably be complete this weekend!!!  I will of course be "in deep study" on the other side of the house because I HAVE to finish a paper (lol) while Adam puts together the furniture.  

This is what they do in the mornings while I study.

So this morning, before my friend arrives for our quick lunch and get Shonda out of the house campaign, I will keep reading Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government.  The book is already interesting in the fact that it sheds light on some of the odd behaviors of the men in Washington and the lack and availability of social mobility for women.  While they lived in closed worlds, sequestered from public life...they had considerable power and used the private life to sway politics. In addition, I am quite shocked at some of our founder's opinions of women (yes I know...it was a long time ago, but we often idolize these guys so much that when someone like Jefferson feel like women were the reason the French revolution got out of hand and often seemed completely untrusting of them as a sex, is odd).  

I had to get a few concerns off my chest, but today is going to be a good day.

Cannot Condone It

     No one has the ability to convince me that any sort of religion enables people to hate another person because of who they love.  I've studied a few over my academic career, and while academic study separates you from the belief itself, it does give you an idea of what the tenants mean to those who follow said faith.  No religion I have ever studied says... Hate this person because of who they love.
Now, yes, one could manipulate sentences and verses to support their own intolerant agenda, but that does not make it right and it does not mean the religion in its core supports such things. 
     One thing about progress, the central idea of being progressive, is to learn over time and grow, not to step backwards into barbaric behaviors and sentiments.  To me, the anti-gay sentiment that permeates throughout this country is simply a remnant of some archaic and barbaric thinking, some past where it is acceptable to ostracize another human being for being different from YOU.  I have never subscribed to such base behavior.  I do not believe I am better than others who do, I just consider myself lucky for having the right experiences that taught me to accept another person regardless of who they dated (because honestly, I really do not care).  
     First, I had an uncle who was gay.  He was a loving, candid, silly, and human person possessing great virtues and natural flaws just like any other human being.  I grew up slowly understanding that my uncle was different, that he was gay and at first I did not know what it meant, but all I saw was my uncle, so I really could have cared less.  Once I matured enough to understand, his sexuality mattered even less.  He was again, just my uncle and when he died a few years ago, the only thing I remembered about him was how much I loved him, not who he wanted to date.  Second, I was an extremely shy and awkward child.  I know, I know... that is a shock to my friends now.  I did not like talking, I did not like groups of people, and I had social issues at school... so my parents, in an effort to get a child who THEY saw as open and outgoing, put me in theater to help me get to know people more and enjoy myself.  It was an AMAZING thing my parents did and to this day, I cannot thank them enough for the experience.  So, in theater, I met a lot of different people...of various backgrounds and with a plethora of different personalities, some were gay, straight, black, white...we all just got together and had fun.  To sum it all up, what I am trying to say is during my youth I had exposure to other people and learned to accept people because they all accepted me, and I knew them as friends, family... not some "other."  
     While I get pretty involved in politics, social issues are my biggest cause.  I have had the honor to meet people from all over the country and world who illustrate how great humanity can be when love is a guiding force.  I have family who strive no matter how hard it is, to teach others that LOVE is the ONLY way...and intolerance, hate, cruelty.... is the wrong way.    These people are atheists, christians, buddhists, pagans and muslims....from tons of different faiths and creeds.  So when people who walk around with signs that say "God Hates Fags" and when they boycott places because they have fair policies regarding the equal treatment of gay and straight couples... and they do that in the name of a religion... its painful to me, it angers me, but I have to remember that those people just have the wrong idea.... and maybe if they UNDERSTOOD what they were doing, they would stop.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/13/timothy-kurek-straight-christian-pretends-gay_n_1963657.html

I'm not saying every person who does not understand what its like to be gay should pretend to be gay for a year (honestly, they shouldnt have to to accept people for who they are), but if they just lived a day in another person's life... if they just tried to think to themselves... I do not know what its like to be this way, so why am I judging this life?  The world would be a much happier place.

School and Things

What a nice day, not as productive as I would like, but nice all the same.  First, it is beginning to cool down.  The temperatures are not 95 degrees every single day and thus I can turn a light bit of air on while I work and read at a comfortable temperature (little perks).  Secondly, I had a very progressive talk with my adviser from school today and we pretty much planned the rest of my Grad program, which is shorter that I thought lol.  It is nice to see the completion in sight and know what you need to do and maintain.  With all of the important events coming up (Aiden mostly) I want to make sure I am not overdoing it or overloading myself with a schedule I may not be able to handle.  Finding out I only had to take two classes instead of three, is a bit of a relief.  

Today I am reading up on Britain in Africa, covering things like the Boer Wars, the struggle for Nile Domination and the lead up to World War I (which I truly enjoy studying).  Lawrence James' The Rise and Fall of the British Empire is a tome of a book, and often his perspective is a bit odd to me, but overall I enjoy reading it... if you ever need something that just covers the entire empire in a concise manner, this is the book for you.  Now if I can just finish my assignment for the week, write out my responses and turn them in... 

The dog is snoring, which makes me want to take a nap as well, but no sleep for the perpetual student.

Progress

This week we are making a great deal of progress in preparation for baby Wilson.  We have the bed, dresser is on the way, strollers, car seats...along with flooring and painting in the works.  Now, this does mean that we have to put all this glorious furniture together, but I am sure a few hours of yelling and screaming and throwing directions are healthy lol.


On other fronts, this is my last week of work before I go on leave, I had to cut back hours because I just cant stand up for 8 hours which made me feel kind of wimpy but, I will get over it.
School is progressing, currently I have all A's but the semester is still young and I have a long way to go... lots of books to read and write about.  I will say that while the rigorous work is sometimes baffling, I do enjoy Grad School, I love having the ability to constantly study my field, its a great feeling.


Right now I am finishing up:  New England's Generation: The Great Migration and the Formation of Society and Culture in the Seventeenth Century.  It is an interesting book and great for someone who doesn't know the crucial differences between the New England settlers (mostly Puritans at first) and the rest of the colonial settlements of the 17th century.  The New England stock went across the Atlantic for different reasons than your Chesapeake fortune hunters and thus the environment turns out to be quite different.  Because I've done a great deal with Puritans over the years, this book often feels like a rehash, but for someone who maybe doesn't really know a lot about Puritans, its a really informative book.

If all goes as planned, I start on different content tomorrow for my British Empire Class, I love the subject but man that workload is something that sneaks up on you constantly because there are other things often in the way.  I wish I had more time with that class, I really do.

I am having quite a bit of political turmoil with the fact that one good performance (based off of lies) delivered by Mitt Romney has somehow made him the savior of America.  When you can come off as convincing on camera, but all the while tell complete lies.... that just means you would do well as a salesman somewhere, not our President.  His foreign policy comments earlier this week did not help my sinking opinion of the man who often diverts attention from  major problems by fixating on talking points (aka the PBS big bird crap).  He would have stayed in Iraq, he would stay in Afghanistan, he wants to give guns to Syria and invade Libya and well...we know he wants to duke it out with Iran...and yet he complains about our debt and our budget and federal spending and borrowing from China....  I hate to tell Mr. Romney, who obviously does not have time to go over public records very often... our debt to China has nothing to do with PBS and everything to do with military spending that went out of control after multiple wars that were needless, that accomplished little, and killed many young Americans... why on earth would I want to vote for someone who wants to ignore the costs and jump right back into war???

This confuses me... very much.

A Toast to Things Not Changing!

You know in my fairy princess happy world of unicorns and rainbows I think that people learn from history and that all the crazy stuff going on today is new and insane and just never seen before so perhaps the world has gone crazy....
Then I have to go and study history and my rainbows melt and my unicorns are goats with horns glued on and I'm one unhappy princess!


I would like to believe that our founders, the fathers of Enlightenment thought and the creators of the amazing country had some high minded concept of America that went beyond parties and politics and all the mess we seem to bog ourselves down with today to divide and distrust....
but no...
they started it!

They wrote letters, published articles, had parties and celebrations, funerals for their opponents, sometimes burning them in effigy, and all under the banner of Republican and Federalist (back in the day of course)!
Its funny but its also one of those OMG THEY DID THE SAME THING THAT LONG AGO!!!!!!

Their broadsides and newspapers and public speeches at holiday celebrations have been replaced by tweets, facebook rants, and memes.  

New Book

Reading a new book for my Early National America class today and its a pretty strange concept I've never considered....how celebrations and public displays o patriotism influenced the National idea.  Sometimes the book can be a bit dry, but overall its very interesting.

In The Midst of Perpetual Fetes

I will say it is at least worth checking out if history is your thing, especially if American history is your thing.


Next up....

New England's Generation

This one is for my Colonial America class...

Giant Elephant

One of the things that bugs me about politics is that no matter what, when you are on a certain team...you ignore any honest conversation that may challenge your own outlook.  Now I know that both sides do it, so I will totally not even deny that...but yesterday and this morning something I've noticed really began to bug me.

First, call me a bleeding heart, a humanitarian, whatever...but when people are hungry, they should get food, when they dont have a home, there should be somewhere they can sleep, when they work and cannot make the bills, there should be some sort of service that helps them make it and when someone is sick...they should not have to worry if they have enough money in the bank to cover it....

That is how I look at things, poor people are not lazy, old and infirm are not lazy, and they do care about their lives...not everyone has the same situation and so if we begin to just neglect the least of our society, in reflects on us.... 


Second,
If we want to have less poor, if we want to have more opportunity and innovation, we need a good foundation in education so people as they grow learn and possess the skills to make it in an ever growing competitive world.  A solid education system is key and not meant to just occupy kids for half the day every season but the summer.... its not a holding place, its a place for learning and it has a purpose...an important one.

So...
Why is it that whenever we discuss cutting our inflated budget....help for the poor, "entitlements," and education are FIRST on the list...while tax cuts for the extremely wealthy and cuts to the military budget are never mentioned?


I don't know to be honest, but it frustrates me.

Can We Just Report News Please?

While sitting in the Doctor's office this morning (poor husband is under the weather), my attempts at reading my next assignment for school repeatedly were interrupted by the morning news.  I don't often pay attention to morning news shows, to be honest when I am up early, I usually occupy myself with school work and read my news in print (well online at least) from a few different sources.  So, I found myself distracted by how ODD the news was...

1. It seemed to be a loop of the same stuff and here were the topics....

1. Obama and Romney camps are being nice to each other before the debates.

2. A woman grew her own ear replacement on her arm.

3. Diapers might be in shortage soon.

4. Milk might go up because congress wont pass a farm bill.

and

5. Lindsey Lohan got in a fight with some guy in her hotel room....


Is this really the scope of news today???

Because this doesn't seem like news.... Here are some news headlines...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/30/us-death-toll-afghanistan-2000

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/01/world/unga-final-day/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/01/world/meast/syria-hama-neighborhood/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Rage Against the Machine...

This issue with the closing of the Georgia Archives is a really big deal to me and so while I may appear to be beating a dead horse, I really want to stress how horrible this is, how the Governor straight up lied and said they would remain open when they wont... and how people will lose their jobs, the area will lose commerce, and Georgians will lose access to our public records!!!


UGA's Newspaper Article on the Situation

Saving our archives is a big deal, lets not be the ONLY state in the United States without open access to our records!!!!

Ups and Downs and Sleepy

How Lizzie looks (adorable really) in this photo is how I feel today.  As I adjust to the ups and downs of pregnancy, I realize that there is only so much I can do in a day and as of late, I feel just a bit overdone.  Work has been extremely hard and the fatigue I feel by the time I get home kind of reached a tipping point last night when I was up at 3 AM just sore, anxious, and exhausted.  So, a few things are going to change... I am going to attempt to take it easy and relieve some of this stress and we shall see.  With School, family, and baby...there isn't much time in the day to do other things, but I need to relax some because I am so wound at times I just feel overdone.
So....
Ive been playing a video game on and off in break periods to help..

This is my World of Warcraft Panda, she is cute...and fun to play, so something to rest my brain when it begins to turn to mush...
Also we've been getting ready for the baby...

Baby bed, mattress and mattress pad is purchased and on the way, cannot wait to paint (or watch Adam paint) and get everything situated... excited!
The baby shower is coming up and I have an awesome hat in mind (wooo)

That is about it, not much substance I know...not my menagerie of political opinions or anything else...
The book I read on early Virginia and slavery was interesting and now I am reading my British Empire tome for an assignment due on Saturday....But im not stressing over it.