Hahaha

Do I Have Pig Flu?

Sent to a friend and he said:

It says, YES, I have it…and I just bought the shotgun.

Your book stepped on me

I am currently reading Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady because I recently read American Wife and I wanted to compare it to the truth just so I wasn’t basing my opinion of Laura Bush on a work of fiction.

On Sunday I got on the subway and had my book in my hand. I opened it up and shifted my feet a little because it was crowded. The man sitting in front of me sort of squirmed and made a face, so I said, “Oh, I’m sorry, did I step on you?” He said, “No, but that book did.” All I could think to say was, “Well, she’s a Democrat.” and that was that – which isn’t even entirely true. She was raised in a democratic house and is more liberal than her husband, but never had strong political beliefs, views, or associations. She calls herself Republican by marriage.

It really bothered me that he commented on the book I was reading. He was an old black man (with graying hair) who looked very put together. He was sitting with a teenage black girl who had a book about black history in her lap and the entire while I was on the train he lectured her about the black people of America and the difficulties they have faced. That is in no way my issue and I do not intend to have a discussion about that, I just wanted to give an idea of my perception of this man and why he would have said what he did.

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I am also entitled to the right to read what I please without people making comments or vocal judgments. It is my prerogative to read about Laura Bush, just as it is to read about Jacqueline Kennedy, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, or Adolf Hitler (not that I am comparing these women to him). My point is that these are historic public figures and I read about them to gain some knowledge whether I agree with them and their views and opinions or not. I didn’t comment on the book on the young woman’s lap – by all means, read away, just as long as you are reading.

I felt like there was so much ignorance in his comment. While he might disagree with the politics of her husband, to react so strongly doesn’t really do much. It was not his place to say anything and honestly, while I might be overreacting, I am slightly offended at the judgment I felt. I am reading a book so that I can get my facts straight and form an educated opinion. While I don’t have to agree with her to read the book, I feel it is necessary to educate oneself on topics across the board. Ignorance is the result of people who choose not to learn about something, or to ignore it (although, ignoring something cannot always be blamed on ignorance).

It’s bothering me now that in his judgment of me, I am in return judging him. Call it a defense mechanism, call it humanity, call it what you will. I just prefer people to not comment on the books I read.

Swine Flu Outbreak

This whole swine flu thing is getting a little ridiculous to me. I do understand that it could become a pandemic (which is scary) and I do understand that it is killing people (which is sad), but I also understand that what is being said about swine flu was also said about bird flu and SARS. Even if this is worse, which it very well may be, I have no idea, worrying isn’t going to help anything. So far, to my knowledge, the virus has not been deadly in the US and there are people who are definitely recovering.

I’m waiting for people in the city to break out the masks as there are confirmed cases of 20 high school students in Queens, as well as at least one employee at Earnst & Young (according to my roommate). While masks might be a smart preventative measure to take, they will make me snicker.

My roommate is freaked out by this whole thing and is eating up the news the media is putting out about it. My question though, is at what point does journalism become irresponsible. Of course this is something that is news worthy and should be covered so that people are aware of both its existence as well as symptoms, treatments, and when it is appropriate to go to the hospital. However, at some point that line can be breached and people are now having a sense of fear instilled into them rather than just getting the news.

I’m to the point that I don’t really want to hear much more about this. I know it exists, I know the symptoms are like any other flu, I know it’s spreading across the world and could become a pandemic, but I also know that even in 1918 when there was an influenza pandemic, it only killed 2% of the population. I do understand that 2% is a lot of people, but in perspective, it’s nothing compared to something like the bubonic plague that killed 25%-50% of Europe’s population.

In short, I am aware of the swine flu, the chances of my dying from it are small, and I’m tired of hearing about it.

Booties for Evan

I finished these a few weeks ago, but never posted a picture. Here are the booties I made for my old bosses son. I love them!

Central Park Sunbathing

It was SO nice out this weekend. And hot! I laid out at Central Park on Saturday and got a little too much sun. I am so sunburned. My shoulders kill when I sleep.

My roomie came and met up with me and it was so nice just to lay out, read, people watch, etc. There were some people not far from us who were dancers and doing all these ballet moves/positions. There were of course people with footballs and frisbees. There were LOTS of girls who seemed to have made an impromptu trip and had stripped off their shirt or in some cases shirt and pants/skirt and were just in bras/underwear.

A hispanic guy with a really thick accent came up to my roommate and said, “excuse me? Can I dajou?” She said, what? and he said it again. She said, uh, no. I have a boyfriend. Sorry! and he walked away. Then the girl sitting next to us turned and said, did that really just happen??

Overall it was a great day in the park!

The New American Tea Party

A while back I received an email explaining the “New American Tea Party.” It explained that people are angry that Congress is wildly spending money with no regard for the people they represent. They are not listening to what the people want, etc. Because of that, as a form of protest and irony, people are sending a tea bag to Washington DC (April 1 so it would arrive by today – tax day).

I am really curious today to find out how many tea bags showed up…and how seriously Congress/the government will take this form of protest.

“I’m passin out…”

Pay attention to the whisper. His whisper makes it that much more funny.

The producer clearly saying “wait, we need a shot of him laying on the floor before we go to break,” is great.

Express and Local Elevators

I work in an office where our company has 16 or 17 floors. Getting in the elevator first thing in the morning and around 5:30, you’re sure to stop at almost every floor. It’s kind of annoying, but what can you do?

There is something that happens in New York that is unique (in my knowledge) to this city and it’s one of those little charms I love. When you’ve stopped at 4 or 5 floors in a row, someone will inevitably, heavily sigh. Then someone else will remark that “we’ve caught the local.” This, of course is a reference to the subway (local trains stop at every station, express trains stop only at the major stations), which is why this only works in New York. This morning there was an entire conversation in the elevator about how we need express elevators.

These comments and conversations make me smile and I love that the city of New York seems to have its own little inside elevator joke.

Ear Candling

I have been really interested in ear candling since I first heard about it while I was in college, but have never had it done because I also hear it is not good for you. People say it is necessary to have ear wax. I recently looked into ear candling and it seems like the issue is not that it is not good for you, it is that it is totally ineffective.

Apparently anything that comes out of the ear is residue from the candle. One site I was reading said:

Since wax is sticky, the negative pressure needed to pull wax from the canal would have to be so powerful that it would rupture the eardrum in the process. However, candling produces no vacuum. Researchers who measured the pressure during candling of ear models found that no negative pressure was created. The same investigators candled eight ears and found that no ear wax was removed and candle wax was actually deposited in some of them!

I guess I will stick to Q-Tips.

Oprah Visit

Friday, tbf and I went to the Oprah show. His sister works there and got us tickets. It was a show without guests in the studio which was a little weird.

When you get there, you go through a line where you check your coat (anything you take in the studio besides a purse you have to wear – can’t hold – and you can’t take it off). Then you go through a purse check where they go through and basically take out anything electronic and anything you could possible write on or with. They took my book, my DS…everything. They check it and you get it back when you leave the show. Next, you go into a waiting area and sit and talk until they are ready to seat you for the show. They call all the people who are sitting in the floor seats individually and before everyone “else.” The floor seats had a much, much higher concentration of black people/women than the rest of the audience, which the majority of was white.

I think I signed something that says I can’t talk about the show, so I won’t – but I will say all the guests were all “on” via Skype. (I think it’s really amusing that Skype is so big as of late – I learned about it fall of 2005.) The guest also had pretty depressing stories. There wasn’t much that was “inspiring” or “uplifting” about the show. At one point during a “commercial break,” she turned to the audience and said something to the effect of, “I’m so glad the world is so screwed up or I wouldn’t have a job.”

Afterward, Oprah was very talkative. There was some woman who was like worshiping her and kept telling her how she [Oprah] has made it ok for her [the woman] to be a black woman in society and be strong. She kept saying, “Like, you’re Oprah,” and “Don’t you know who you are?” These people worshiped her – very weird. Then there was a girl who stood up and was telling Oprah that she wanted to be her. Oprah said, “but you can’t be me, cause I am. You should be the best you.” She went on to ask her what she wanted to do with her life (she was 23) and the girl told her broadcasting. So Oprah asked what she was doing now and the girl said she was working in engineering. From there, Oprah sort of picked on her about the whole career thing and how she doesn’t think the girl actually wants to be in broadcasting or she would be doing everything she could to be there. She was like picking on her, but at the same time, clearly trying to get her to open her eyes and really figure things out. She then took pictures with the two woman and it was over. Back out to get the contents of my purse and my coat.

All in all it was a really cool experience to get to see how it’s all done and see what all the show entails. I enjoyed myself and would definitely go again. I’m sure that the experience is totally different with a guest physically on the show as well.

Oh, one thing I forgot: At some point during the taping, Oprah said she thinks Michelle Obama is the most qualified person to be the first lady, ever. Really Oprah, ever? Wouldn’t that really have been Martha Washington?