Barry Bonds & the Chicago Bears: Growing Boys
Posted on 31. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in health, inspirational people, movies, sports
Remember “Brian’s Song“? If you’re like me, the first few notes of the 1971 movie’s theme song are enough to make you cry as you remember Brian Piccolo’s spirit and courage, his deep friendship with Gayle Sayers, and the normal-weight Chicago Bears playing themselves.
Yes folks, those aren’t actors playing football players: the Chicago Bears played themselves. So when they get on the scale and the team doctor yells out their weights, “215″, “220″, etc., those are real weights. What a far cry from the current Chicago Bears! NFL.com says that the average weight of the current Chicago Bears player is 247 lbs., and the average defensive lineman weighs 319 lbs.
Of course, it’s only fitting that I’m reminded of this when Barry Bonds is here in L.A. to take on the Dodgers and possibly break Hank Aaron’s home run record. Did he take steroids? You decide. Check out this slide show that the Mercury News put together showing pictures of Barry between 1990 and 2004. The 1990 and 2004 pictures are also shown below.
Go Dodgers!!!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.Â
Retracing our steps via Google Streetview; Stalking via Google Earth
Posted on 30. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, travel, videos
We ate lunch at a great little restaurant in Soho in New York City a few weeks ago. I wanted to tell a friend about it, but I didn’t know the name. All I knew was that it was near a restaurant named Zoe.
I looked Zoe up on Google, and quickly found its address: 90 Prince Street. I plugged that address into Google Maps, and switched to Google Street View. I maneuvered the Google Guy to the front of the restaurant I was searching for. It looked like the sign said “Fanelli Cafe.”
I looked that up on Google, and when I linked to the restaurant’s website I found that it’s the second-oldest continuous food and drink establishment in NY.
So if you’re in NY, I recommend that you eat at Fanelli Cafe. I had a fabulous grilled chicken salad there, and loved the historic atmosphere. I wonder if any of my ancestors ever ate (or imbibed) there.
On a different note, this hilarious Slate.com video titled “Google Earth’s Downside” points out the potential that Google Earth has for stalking tracking loved ones:
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS. Â
Batmobile spotted on 210 Freeway in Pasadena, CA
Posted on 30. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in travel, tv
How cool is this? My son and I saw the Batmobile in Pasadena and La Canada on the 210 Freeway today. He grabbed the camera from my purse and managed to snap a few pictures with his healthy arm.
Note the license plate and the parachute in the back. Pretty cool. Way cooler than my minivan, even with its Obama sticker.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
PTA cartoon from The New Yorker
Posted on 29. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in art, education, parenting
Love this cartoon, but perhaps I won’t include it in one of our high school PTA newsletters this year. But I bet it would help get people to our meetings!
It’s from the July 30, 2007 issue of The New Yorker magazine. Buy the magazine and see more great cartoons, of course!!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
“War Tapes” excellent depiction of war in Iraq
Posted on 29. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in international, movies, politics
When videocameras were given to three New Hampshire National Guardsmen about to ship out to Iraq, I’d bet the military brass expected a positive representation of what it’s like to serve. After all, the three men chosen were not only bright and enthusiastic soldiers, but at least two of the three were gung-ho about the war.
“The War Tapes” is the award-winning documentary that combines the footage that these soldiers came home with. It’s an honest depiction of what it’s like to fight in Iraq, and does a good job balancing actual battle scenes with soldiers’ reflections. We saw it on TV last night, on the Military Channel. (I didn’t even know that channel existed.)
The soldiers who had the hardest time upon returning were those who went into Iraq with high expectations about what they’d be accomplishing over there. When you and those you love sacrifice so much for a cause that you truly believe in, and it looks like your sacrifices might be for nothing, it can get really stressful. Either you abandon the cause and feel betrayed, or your loyalty and optimism makes you continue to hope that it’s all been worth it. But as you continue to see that it’s not, it can get quite stressful. And that stress can be magnified within you when you try to put on a strong public face and not admit to your struggles.
I never supported the war in Iraq, for a variety of reasons. Among them was the fact that I never thought we’d win. At this point, I’d love to see us pull out, but I don’t want us to leave the country in more of a mess than we found in the first place. I admire the brave men and women and their families who have sacrificed to much for this cause. I hope it is all worthwhile, or that no further sacrifices will have to be made.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Simpsons Movie review: like a TV episode
Posted on 29. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in movies, tv
I love the Simpsons, but I only give the movie 3/5 stars. It was funny, but it truly was like watching a long TV episode. For the price we paid for the family to go to the theater, we could have purchased a whole season DVD set of the Simpsons. My son agrees with this assessment. He said there have been funnier TV episodes that he’s seen than this movie.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Yesterday, in a world 3.9 miles away, two men were killed
Posted on 28. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, local news, religion
When my son and I showed up at Harambee Ministries yesterday to take Rudy Carrasco and his young friend Ernie to lunch, it looked like another beautiful summer day on the pretty, tree-lined streets of Northwest Pasadena. Lively Gospel music played on the office radio, and several teens waited outside to help the receptionist make copies or run errands.
As we pulled away from his house to go to Tonny’s Restaurant (which I highly recommend!), Rudy pointed to the house across the street and down a few. Ten hours earlier, two men had been shot and killed in front of that house.
According to Google Maps, I live just 3.9 miles away from there. But from where I sit, it might as well be a world away. Perhaps JPL, which lies in between, should focus on bridging these two worlds instead of exploring more distant planets. If there were a shooting like this in La Canada Flintridge, everything wouldn’t look so calm 10 hours later. There’d still be reporters, community members and police gathering at the scene of the crime.
Often crimes in this part of town are so commonplace that they barely get a mention in the newspapers. This one seems to have tipped the boat, however: it was actually on the front page of both the Pasadena Star News and the LA Times today. In After drop, gang violence flares up in Pasadena, the LA Times reports that
Pasadena won much praise for reducing gang violence over the last 14 years, a concerted effort that started after the high-profile killing of three teenage boys leaving a Halloween night party in 1993.
The crackdown resulted in a major drop in crime — particularly among young people and gangs. The city, which in the 1980s recorded more than 30 homicides a year, by 2002 recorded just three, according to FBI records. But then, homicides started rising.
Over the past 18 months, there were 18 homicides in Pasadena.
The violence has sparked a series of community forums, a new crackdown by Pasadena police and some political soul-searching.
Hopefully some of these forums, crackdowns and soul-searchings will work, because the situation appears to be worsening. Ultimately, I believe responsibility lies with the families that allow their children to participate in violent activities (or don’t monitor if they are) and, of course, with the individuals themselves. Yes, this is a poor area, but there are far poorer people in the world who don’t resort to violence. Of course, it’s tough to change families and individuals overnight, if at all.
Pasadena’s fortunate to have Harambee Ministries. Its elementary school, after-school tutoring, day camp and other support programs have made lasting differences in the lives of many young people and their families.
It’s incumbent upon the rest of us to support programs such as theirs to the extent we can.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Parents outsource childcare to India
Posted on 28. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in parenting, videos
Just kidding. But this video parody from The Onion made me laugh pretty hard.
Isn’t it the things closest to you that make you laugh the hardest?
My project for August is to set up so that my daughter can communicate with a tutor who moved up to San Luis Obispo. So it’s not completely inconceivable to outsource childcare! Just make sure the packing peanuts are edible…
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
California’s population expected to grow 67% by 2050
Posted on 27. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education, environment
The NY Times recently reported that California’s population is expected to grow from the current 36 million to 60 million by 2050. Wow. Sounds good for my property values, but where will my kids live? Maybe we’ll all live in our current house! Including grandchildren!!
To put this population explosion in perspective, for every 100 cars on the road now, there’d likely be 167 in 2050, unless we get more serious about public transportation. For every 100 kids in the schools now, there’d be about 167 in 43 years. And for every 100 gallons of water we consume now, we’d need about 167 gallons in the future. It’s hard to imagine where that will materialize from, considering the drought we’re in now.
I read a bumper sticker the other day that said “Pave the Earth now. Get it over with.” Sounds like we’re headed towards that reality.
They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ‘em
Don’t it always seem to go,
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
- Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi”
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Bee bodies littering my driveway
Posted on 26. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, my life
In case anyone doubts that bees are dying, here are a few weeks worth of bees I found on my driveway and patio:
I tried to identify them, and most look like honeybees. I could be wrong, however. I do know that I’m not the only one in La Canada Flintridge finding dead bees lying around. It’s a frequent conversation topic here.
I finally stopped collecting them when my husband threw a barbeque for his office last weekend. I figured it wouldn’t look too good to have a bunch of dead bees lying around. Besides, they grossed my daughter out.
Why is it that I’m so sad about the bees dying, and yet as I collect their dead bodies I’m killing crickets with my flip-flop?
Postscript: Don’t miss Elizabeth Kobert’s article, Where have all the bees gone? in the August 6, 2007 New Yorker magazine.
What happens when organized religion diminishes faith
Posted on 26. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, religion
I’ve read two thought-provoking articles in the last week by Christians decrying the effect that the shenanigans of church officials, church members, and leadership bodies have had on their faith.
In last Saturday’s LA Times article , William Lobdell lays his soul on the line and talks about how, as a Catholic, he was eager to write articles about religion so that he could provide a counterpoint to what he thought was an anti-religion media bias. Unfortunately, the closer he got to his subject, the more he started questioning his own faith. Although he covered positive stories, he also covered negative stories, including the Catholic priest scandals. His own priest warned him to not be discouraged by a “relatively few bad clerics.”
But then I began going over the documents. And interviewing the victims, scores of them. I discovered that the term “sexual abuse” is a euphemism. Most of these children were raped and sodomized by someone they and their family believed was Christ’s representative on Earth. That’s not something an 8-year-old’s mind can process; it forever warps a person’s sexuality and spirituality.
Many of these victims were molested by priests with a history of abusing children. But the bishops routinely sent these clerics to another parish, and bullied or conned the victims and their families into silence. The police were almost never called. In at least a few instances, bishops encouraged molesting priests to flee the country to escape prosecution.
I couldn’t get the victims’ stories or the bishops’ lies — many of them right there on their own stationery — out of my head. I had been in journalism more than two decades and had dealt with murders, rapes, other violent crimes and tragedies. But this was different — the children were so innocent, their parents so faithful, the priests so sick and bishops so corrupt.
The lifeline Father Vincent had tried to give me began to slip from my hands.
It wasn’t just the Catholic church. He was discouraged to hear about Mormon communities that treated former church members as outcasts, and of some of our nation’s most powerful pastors who benefitted from the Trinity Broadcasting Network’s prosperity gospel which encouraged people to give money which wound up materially benefitting TBN.
Eventually he asked to be removed from the religion beat.
My soul, for lack of a better term, had lost faith long ago — probably around the time I stopped going to church. My brain, which had been in denial, had finally caught up.
Clearly, I saw now that belief in God, no matter how grounded, requires at some point a leap of faith. Either you have the gift of faith or you don’t. It’s not a choice. It can’t be willed into existence. And there’s no faking it if you’re honest about the state of your soul.
He’s right: belief of God does require a leap of faith. I tried “proving” God exists when I was in high school and college, and took philosophy and religion classes to help me in my search. I ultimately decided I couldn’t prove that God exists, but I couldn’t prove He doesn’t exist either. And all along, I believed in God. Perhaps it is a gift? It is, I guess, as it gives me more purpose and hope.
The other article I read was in Christianity Today, Sorrow But No Regrets: My life in the troubled, redemptive church. Christine Scheller talks about the path her faith has taken after seeing scandals and abnormalities in so many of the churches she’s attended.
I can look at this journey and see a trail of folly. Or I can look back with tenderness and see churches and pastors that taught me all I know about loving Jesus and being loved by him. I choose tenderness because Jesus Christ exists on earth within his sin-damaged band of followers. This is the realization that breaks us—there is no better church.
In the end, she still has her faith. I admire William Lobdell for his raw honesty, and hope that in the end, he finds his faith again too.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Faith Hill doesn’t need major Photoshopping
Posted on 25. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in feminism, things that bug me, videos
When I see the magazines at the supermarket checkout, I don’t say, “Oooh! I’m inadequate. I don’t look like [fill in the blank].” But subconsciously, my mind is probably logging the cover pictures in the “Standards of Beauty” folder in my brain.
At 39, Faith Hill is one of the more beautiful people who graces these covers. Therefore, it’s disappointing to learn that Redbook magazine went into Photoshop overdrive to alter her photo for its most recent issue.
Here’s the original photo, courtesy of the blog Jezebel:
Here’s the doctored Redbook cover:
Every time I flip back and forth between the two I notice something new. The bags below the eyes disappear, her right arm appears, her waist shrinks, etc. It’s ironic that the subtitle to the story about her is “what’s normal about them (and what’s not).”
The editor-in-chief of Redbook went on the Today show and said that “In the end, they’re not really photographs. They’re images.” Poor Faith! She was used!! (Although I’m sure she was paid handsomely (or prettily?) for this photoshoot.)
So tell your sons and daughters this is all a sham. And try to focus on unloading your cart in the checkout line instead of looking at the magazine covers. I made sure to show this to my country music-fan husband, who said the right thing: that I look just like Faith Hill. Only shorter. And less blonde. And then he stopped. What a great guy!!
See my past blog entry about the Dove commercial which shows how a normal-looking woman can be made to look like a model via makeup, hairstyling and a big dose of Photoshop.
Many thanks to MotherPie for turning me on to this story!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Natalia Paruz, the Saw Lady, brightens up NY’s subways
Posted on 25. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in music, my life, travel, videos
Several months ago I blogged about the chilly reaction that acclaimed violinist Joshua Bell received when he played in the Washington, D.C. metro. Someone who commented on that post recommended the Saw Lady’s blog to me, since she frequently promotes her fellow NY street / subway musicians.
A few days before I visited NY earlier this month, I emailed the Saw Lady (Natalia Paruz) and asked her where / when she’d be playing on the day I was visiting. She gave me the details, and my father, kids and I made a point of seeing her perform.
I’m so glad we did! She’s not only incredibly talented, but she’s got a huge smile and a wonderful personality. Talk about first impressions: if mine’s right, she’s an absolutely terrific lady! We had a nice time talking (quickly!) between songs, and she told me that she’d planned on being a dancer until she was in an accident. She went on vacation to Austria, heard someone playing the saw, and was so inspired that she wound up teaching herself to play!
If you’re ever in New York City, try to find her. If I was there this week, I’d make sure to ask her to play the Harry Potter song. The saw has such a haunting sound, so I’m sure it’s perfect for that song.
In the meantime, you can view the with my teeny weeny camera:
PS – Many apologies to anyone whom I didn’t get a chance to visit in NY/NJ/PA. We were back for only three days, and spent one day in each state. I wish we had more hours in each day!!!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Does the direction of a man’s hair whorl indicate his sexual preference?
Posted on 25. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, health, politics, religion, startling statistics
Why does some hair swirl clockwise, and some counterclockwise? It’s not determined by whether you’re north or south of the Equator, so is it random or is there another reason?
In “The Science of Gaydar” in New York Magazine, reporter David France talks to scientists who are trying to determine whether, if sexual orientation is biological, then perhaps the traits that we associate with it are also. As it turns out, they’ve found that gay men are three times more likely (23% vs. 8%) to have a counterclockwise hair whorl (as seen on the left, below) than men in the general population.
Here are more findings:
A string of other studies, most of them conducted quietly and with small budgets, has offered up a number of other biological indicators. According to this research, for instance, gay men, like straight women, have an increased density of fingerprint ridges on the thumb and the pinkie of the left hand; and overall their arms, legs, and hands are smaller relative to stature (among whites but not blacks). There are technical differences in the way most men and most women hear, except among lesbians, whose ears function more like men’s. And there are gender-based cognitive differences in which gay men appear more like women. One involves mentally rotating a 3-D object, something males tend to do better than females—except gay men score more like straight women and lesbians function more like straight men. In navigational tasks and verbal-fluency tests, gay men and lesbians tend to have sex-atypical scores.
Also:
At first read, their findings seem like a string of unlinked, esoteric observations. Statistically, for instance, gay men and lesbians have about a 50 percent greater chance of being left-handed or ambidextrous than straight men or women. The relative lengths of our fingers offer another hint: The index fingers of most straight men are shorter than their ring fingers, while for most women they are closer in length, or even reversed in ratio. But some researchers have noted that gay men are likely to have finger-length ratios more in line with those of straight women, and a study of self-described “butch†lesbians showed significantly masculinized ratios. The same goes for the way we hear, the way we process spatial reasoning, and even the ring of our voices. One study, involving tape-recordings of gay and straight men, found that 75 percent of gay men sounded gay to a general audience. It’s unclear what the listeners responded to, whether there is a recognized gay “accent†or vocal quality. And there is no hint as to whether this idiosyncrasy is owed to biology or cultural influences—only that it’s unmistakable.
Haven’t you ever met someone and decided immediately that you think they’re gay? If we’re able to tell so quickly, is it biology or culture that makes gives the person the traits that make us think that? If it’s biology, then it would indicate that being gay is predetermined.
Which, of course, brings about loads of other questions. My philosophy is to love people for who they are, and leave judgment to God. But frankly, I personally have a tough time believing that God wouldn’t love what he’s created. (Yow! I guess Tammy Faye Baker Messner and I did have something in common!!)
What will happen if parents are able to determine if their child is gay when it’s still in the womb? I’d bet that many would abort. Approximately 88% of women in California who are told they’re having a baby with Down Syndrome choose to abort their child. I don’t think 88% would choose to abort a gay son, but I bet it’d be a pretty high percentage. The irony would be that women who would be most displeased (conservatives) would be the least likely to abort a child.
“Can we all just get along?” I love that quote. It’s so naive, yet so optimistic.
I bet there are lots of people who will be looking at hair whorls and finger lengths now!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Simpsons in French on YouTube
Posted on 24. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, my life, parenting, tv, videos
Loyal readers know that I not only speak French, but I can do a pretty credible Marge Simpson imitation. So it was no wonder that upon discovering that there are French episodes of “The Simpsons” on YouTube, I started babbling like Marge in French.
My poor son. He experienced a level of fear and embarassment I’d never seen before. I stopped immediately.
Here’s a link to one of the episodes, (Let’s give him a gift). You can find more by seeing other related videos.
I discovered these when I read in New York Magazine that
In adorable news, the actors who dub the voices of Homer and Marge Simpson for French television have found love. Phillipe Peythieu (who also dubs Danny DeVito) and Veronique Augereau (France’s Courtney Cox) met while auditioning for the show in 1989 and were married in 2001. Check out this clip from the 1998 episode “Mayored to the Mob”, in which their blossoming romance is clearly audible.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
See stunning photos at Earthshots.org
Posted on 24. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in art, cool websites
I’ve seen many wonderful photography websites over the years, but I think Earthshots has the most stunning photos. Each day the site features the daily winner of its international photography contest. Earthshots doesn’t have nearly as many photos as TrekEarth, which is also a great site, but I think its photos are better on average.
If you go to the Archive, you can see all the photographs in a variety of categories. Why aren’t there any USA ones of people?
Here’s today’s screenshot:
“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”
- Henri Cartier Bresson
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Bloggers hide behind the Invisibility Cloak
Posted on 23. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, politics
Anyone who’s read the Harry Potter books is familiar with the Invisibility Cloak, which allows the wearer(s) to roam about without being seen. It’s useful when they’re in danger, or when they need to uncover a crucial secret.
Some bloggers treat the internet as an Invisibility Cloak, and don’t identify themselves to readers. If you’re in Iran, and want to stay hidden to government spies, I can understand this. But it’s hard to justify here in the United States. In most cases, no one will do you harm if you identify yourself. In fact, if you don’t identify yourself, you’re not accountable for what you say, and it’s tempting for some to be extra nasty or say things they can’t back up with facts.
The Los Angeles Times reports in Bloggers take aim at city governments — and hit home that bloggers are becoming a headache for some city governments.
These muckraking bloggers say they have stepped in to fill the government watchdog vacuum. Some are anonymous, others are scurrilous and, on occasion, possibly libelous. And to local politicians, most are a royal pain in the tuchis.
Bloggers in the San Gabriel Valley have raised the alarm about a possible budget crisis in Sierra Madre; ones in the Inland Empire have written about the high costs of trimming city trees in Claremont and allegations that killers are getting away with murder in Pomona.
Bloggers in the San Gabriel Valley have raised the alarm about a possible budget crisis in Sierra Madre; ones in the Inland Empire have written about the high costs of trimming city trees in Claremont and allegations that killers are getting away with murder in Pomona.”We realize in today’s electronic environment, it’s a fact of life,” said Grand Terrace City Manager Thomas Schwab. “The thing that’s the most disturbing is they can put things on the blog that have no basis in fact, and you really can’t refute it.”
It may only be a matter of time before bloggers start to have a major influence in local politics and policymaking.
“It’s inexpensive, and my guess is there are a lot of people who find it fun,” said Matthew Spitzer, former USC Law School dean.
“There have always been citizens who love to go to city council meetings and see what’s going on. Putting it on a blog makes it a lot easier and it increases accessibility to 24/7.”
I’m all for the free flow of accurate information. If something’s amiss in government, I think it’s great to blog about it. But play fair and back it up with facts, and don’t be afraid to show your face. In the end, it will make your cause that much more legitimate.
If I were a government official faced with bloggers, I’d fight fire with fire and write my own blog.
Hopefully the side of truth will prevail!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Longing for the mud
Posted on 23. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, education
Here’s my new French phrase for the day: “nostalgie de la boue.” It means “longing for the mud,” as in when someone longs for something below where they really should be. Thomas Chatterton Williams uses it in his Washington Post article “Black Culture Beyond Hip-Hop.” He says that nostalgie de la boue exacts a heavy price among America’s Black youth.
The historian Paul Fussell notes that for most Americans, it is difficult to “class sink.” Try to imagine the Chinese American son of oncologists — living in, say, a New York suburb such as Westchester, attending private school — who feels subconsciously compelled to model his life, even if only superficially, on that of a Chinese mafioso dealing heroin on the Lower East Side. The cultural pressure for a middle-class Chinese American to walk, talk and act like a lower-class thug from Chinatown is nil. The same can be said of Jews, or of any other ethnic group.
But in black America the folly is so commonplace it fails to attract serious attention. Like neurotics obsessed with amputating their own healthy limbs, middle-class blacks concerned with “keeping it real” are engaging in gratuitously self-destructive and violently masochistic behavior.
Thankfully, there’s not much nostalgie de la boue in our community. Unless, of course, you count the “mud bowl” at the high school church camp…
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
One percent cows
Posted on 23. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in food, parenting
When my daughter was little, she once asked if there were special cows that produced 1 percent milk. We gently laughed, and explained that all cows produced the same milk.
It’s time for her to laugh at us! It turns out that biotechnologists in New Zealand have indeed bred cows that product milk with only 1 percent fat. The milk is also high in omega-3 fatty acids and produces butter that spreads as easily as margarine. According to the International Herald Tribune,
Scientists discovered a cow, later named Marge by researchers, carrying the mutant gene in a dairy herd they were testing in 2001, Vialactia chief scientist Russell Snell said.
Vialactia, a subsidiary of the Fonterra Cooperative Group, one of the world’s largest milk companies, bought the cow for 300 New Zealand dollars (US$218; €162) and moved it to a research site.
While she looked like any other Friesian cow, testing revealed that Marge’s milk contained about 1 percent fat, compared with about 3.5 percent for whole milk.
Offspring from the cow also produce low-fat milk, showing the genetic trait is dominant, Snell said.
Now it wouldn’t surprise me if the cactuses she thought were giraffes really turned out to be giraffes!
Household hacks: home computer maintains family’s sanity
Posted on 22. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, my life, parenting, technical
I’m a nerd who hates chaos. So when it comes to organizing my life, my computer is my greatest ally.
In case you need a few tips for keeping your house / family / kids in order, here are some ways I use my computer to keep our family sane:
Address list: Of course, it’s on Microsoft Access. I use it to print labels and reports, and have fields such as “Send Christmas Card” and “Invite to Birthday Party.”
Allowances: I discovered early on that it was tough to remember to give my kids their allowances each week, and tougher to keep track of how much I owed them. So I opened Banco de Mama, which is actually an Excel spreadsheet that tracks debits, credits, and interest for each kid. Each kid has a worksheet within the file, and each worksheet has five columns: Description, Date, Credit, Debit, Balance. I’m a generous banker – they get 1% interest on their balance at the end of each month. When I’m in a nasty mood, I add all the credits and say something like, “Wow, did you realize you’d have $XXXX if you hadn’t spent your money on things like that Hello Kitty wallet in 1999?” Moms can be so evil.
Calendar: I’m probably the last techie parent on Earth without a Blackberry or Treo, but since I’m usually chained to my desk, I don’t need one. Instead, I find that keeping track of the family calendar on my computer with Calendar Creator works best. I just print it out each month and put it on the refrigerator. I also print it when something changes. Sometimes I make it into a PDF and email it to my husband.
What to bring on vacation: I’ve got a Microsoft Access database that lists each item we could possibly need to bring on a vacation, as well as a few “to-do’s” such as stop newspapers, etc. There’s a yes/no field for each vacation we might take. So when we go to church camp, for example, I just check the “bring to church camp” button next to each item we want to bring there. Then, I have a report for each trip. It’s amazing how many times this has saved me from forgetting something such as a cell phone charger.
Vacation planner: When we go on a road trip, I make up a binder with hotel confirmations, Google maps, phone lists, articles about tourist spots, etc. that I slip into plastic sleeves. We keep it in the front passenger seat.
Text messaging: I send text messages to the kids from my email to remind them of things such as doctor’s appointments. I try to do it when they’re on break.
To Do list: If I print out a list of what household tasks we need to get done and put it on the counter, the kids are far more enthusiastic about helping. I think it’s because they know what to expect, and aren’t caught by a surprise, “Oh, and can you also do this? And this? And this?” When my kids were younger, I had an Excel spreadsheet for each of them with a column for each day of the week and a row for each task they had to complete, such as “Brush teeth” and “Practice instrument.” We don’t need it anymore.
Cable TV channels: Our cable tv channels are different on our main tv than on other tv’s in the house. I’ve got a list of the “other” tv’s channels that I’ve printed out and put next to those tv’s. I think we have this situation because there’s a cable box on only one tv.
Reminders: Every day at 3 pm, AOL Reminders sends me an email that says “headgear.” I shout downstairs to my son, “Are you wearing your headgear?” Inevitably, the answer is “no,” so he scurries off and puts it on. I also use this service for birthday reminders, eBay reminders, and random reminders such as “find soppy college graduation article in such-and-such folder” set for years in the future.
Shopping list: I used to have a database with items I could purchase at the grocery store, sorted by aisle. I’d post it on the refrigerator and just check off what I needed each week. I don’t use it anymore because there are four different grocery stores I go to, and they’re all configured differently. Besides, I found some cute Snoopy and Westie magnetic notepads I keep on the fridge, along with a magnetic pen.
Magazine labels: I print labels that say, “Already read: ___ Mom, ___Â Dad, etc.” and put them on each magazine (other than National Geographic!) that comes through the door. When all the relevant people have checked off their names, we pass the magazines on or toss them. (When I say “relevant people,” I mean that I don’t read Runner’s World or Sweet 16.)
Finances: Microsoft Money.
Labels: My Brother P-Touch labelmaker is great for individual labels for files, cameras, sports equipment and more.
These are only a few of my computer household / parenting hacks. Besides these, we also print out invitations, placecards at Thanksgiving, luggage tags, recipes, signs at parties that say “Go to backyard,” lists of what can/can’t be recycled, a spreadsheet with the number of hours my daughter has driven, etc. Be creative!
Please comment below to let me know if you have any great ideas I’ve missed here.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Become a Simpsons character
Posted on 20. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, movies, my life
Visit SimpsonizeMe.com to create a Simpsons character in your likeness. Just upload a photo of yourself, choose a few characteristics, and voila! It’ll create a cartoon version of YOU!
That’s “me” to the right. Next time you see me (or, if you ever meet me), ask me to do my Marge Simpson imitation. It’s scary. I don’t think I’ll use that voice for “me” to the right, but it’s tempting.
I wonder what my family will look like as Simpsons? Perhaps we can use it for our Christmas card this year. At any rate, I’m sure we’ll see the movie within the first few days of it opening next Friday.
Many thanks to PhotoJojo for recommending the site.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Dick Cheney’s ideal job
Posted on 20. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in books, politics
Finally, a place where Cheney can serve his country best:
Source: Slate.com
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
How can you break your arm 3x if you only have 2 arms?
Posted on 19. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in health, inspirational people, my life, parenting, podcasts
Last night, my son broke his arm during a scrimmage at his soccer camp in Santa Barbara. When the phone rang after 8 pm with an 805 area code, my heart skipped a beat. I rushed up there, poured him into the car, and brought him back. Total travel time: approximately 4 hours. Needless to say, we’re both pretty tired.
Before dinner last night, my grace asked to keep our children safe. At first when I heard my son had broken his arm, I felt betrayed. Then, I realized that it could have been worse – a head injury, internal organs, etc.
This is the third time he’s broken an arm. The first time was in preschool, when someone smashed into him on a tricycle and he broke his left arm. The second time was less than two years ago, when he broke his right arm playing football at school. This time he broke his right arm slide tackling, and a boy landed on his outstretched arm. He says it was an accident. Thankfully, the x-rays below show that it’s not as bad as last time.
Everything is relative. As I approached the hospital last night, I was listening to an NPR podcast about a woman soldier who’d lost her arm at war. My son’s lucky: he still has his arm, and he’ll be ok.
Other things I’m thankful for today:
- My iPod, full of NPR’s Most Emailed Stories, which kept me awake
- Diet Coke, which also kept me awake
- Tonya, the woman from the soccer camp who stayed by my son’s side until I arrived
- The little reflectors on the white lines of the freeway that show up when the lines have faded
- The Burger King in Ventura that was open at 11:55 pm last night
- My cellphone, so I could talk to people as I drove. Hands-free, of course!
- Lisa, who gave me a recommendation for a great orthopedist (Paul Gilbert)
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Have a Heart: BlogCatalog Community Organ Donation Awareness Campaign
Posted on 18. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, health
When my daughter got her driver’s permit a few weeks ago, she had the opportunity to sign up to be an organ donor. She didn’t think twice about it – of course she signed up! After all, you can’t take it with you!
I asked the California DMV clerk who helped us how many people signed up to be organ donors. I was expecting he’d say something like 90%. How naive am I? He said it was less than 10%. He said people freak out and remember the 1978 movie “Coma” and don’t sign up.
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, there are nearly 100,000 people waiting for organ transpants in the U.S. Women’sHealth.gov says that although there are 77 transplant operations each day, there are an additional 18 people that die each day waiting for operations that can’t take place since there aren’t enough donated organs.
Organ donorship doesn’t just benefit the recipient; it can ease the pain of a loved one’s loss for the family of an organ donor since they know that some good came from their beloved’s death.
Hopefully you’ve signed up to be an organ donor already, but if not, here’s where you can go to do it:
- If you’re in California, visit Donate Life California
They also have some great stories about organ donation, in case you’re not already convinced. - Visit OrganDonor.gov to find out how to sign up to be an organ donor
- If you’re extremely altruistic, check out Matching Donors.com and learn more about becoming a living donor (e.g., donating a kidney)
NOTE: I was going to blog about this several weeks ago, but today BlogCatalog is having a blitz of organ donor posts to encourage people to sign up to be organ donors. You can find out more here.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Customizing your route on Google maps
Posted on 17. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, travel
When I used Google maps the other day to get directions to my destination in Santa Barbara, I discovered that I could customize my route. It originally told me to take the 101 Freeway the whole way, but since I thought that would have traffic, I preferred to take the 210 to the 118 to the 23. Sure enough, all I had to do was drag the blue route to the freeway that I wanted and voila! The map changed, the directions changed, and the estimated time changed. (It added two minutes!)
Here’s an example. When you ask Google to get you from La Canada Flintridge to Anaheim, it tells you to take the 5 Freeway:
But anyone that lives in LA knows that the 5 Freeway is evil and traffic-laden. So when I drag part of the blue line to the 57 Freeway, which has a carpool lane, here’s what Google re-draws:
Too bad I didn’t know this last month! Then again, perhaps it wasn’t offered then.
Happy travelling!!
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Sending my daughter off in a car with a strange man
Posted on 16. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in my life, parenting
All the stranger danger lessons I’ve taught my daughter were tossed out the window this morning. At this very moment, my daughter is driving for the first time on our local streets with a man named Luis (sp?) who shook my hand and drove her away. I don’t know his last name, I don’t know where he lives, I don’t know a thing about him except that he works for our local driving school. And my daughter doesn’t have her cellphone, since she’s driving.
She wouldn’t let me take a picture of her next to the car, but I snuck one in from the dining room window. Thankfully, she doesn’t read my blog.
I’ll need to look at my past post with all the links about how to teach your kid to drive. I’m sure that this afternoon she’ll want to take the minivan to a local parking lot and drive. She wants me to teach her, since she thinks my husband will constantly question everything she does. Every mom I mention that too says her kid says the same thing. Dads in this town must be pretty tough.
I think I may sprout a few more grey hairs today.
POSTSCRIPT:
Her lesson went well, and she said the instructor was a great teacher. I took her to a big parking lot this afternoon for about an hour, and she practiced turning, parking and reversing in my minivan. She even drove us home. And I didn’t have a heart attack. I even made her laugh once or twice.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Most intriguing freeway name ever
Posted on 16. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in travel
Today I sighted the most surprising freeway name I’ve seen yet. The portion of the 23 Freeway which runs between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks, CA is also known as the “Military Intelligence Service Memorial Highway.”
According to Wikipedia, the name honors WWII soldiers:
Officially, this portion is named the Military Intelligence Memorial Freeway, in honor of the U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed entirely of Japanese Americans.
Silly me. I thought it was for the CIA or something. It is near the Ronald Reagan Library, after all.
Rewinding the Catholic sex-abuse scandal tape
Posted on 16. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in articles, religion
Cardinal Roger Mahoney apologized yesterday for the pain that the Catholic church’s sex-abuse scandal has caused.
Cardinal Mahony said he had sought to reach a settlement after hearing harrowing testimony from abuse victims.
“I said to them, your life I wish were a like a VHS tape, where we could put that in, press rewind, delete these years of misery and difficulty, and start over when you were young and just before this happened,” he said.
I think he should apologize for letting the VHS tape stay in the machine so long. He may have been out of the room while it was playing, but he knew he could stop it. Perhaps that’s why the church settled instead of letting this go to trial today.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Take a step to the left
Posted on 15. Jul, 2007 by kchristieh in education, my life, non-profits
My father has often said that men get more conservative as they age, and women get more liberal.
According to The Writer’s Almanac, that’s true in the case of Ariana Huffington. I love this quote it attributes to her:
“One of the definite changes in my thinking was born of the hard reality I confronted when I discovered how much easier it was raising money for the opera and fashionable museums than for at-risk children. So I came to recognize that the task of overcoming poverty will not be achieved without the raw power of government appropriations.”
I’d bet it’s also easier to raise money for well-endowed universities than at-risk children. There’s a great Slate article about university giving, The Old College Try: Why do alumni give to universities? To get their kids in, of course. I gave to my university before I had kids, and will give even if they don’t apply or get in. But I’ll make sure to give to at-risk children and our church also. Don’t count on me for giving to the opera, however.
If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via email or RSS.
Older Entries »
Recent Comments