NJ pics... details to follow

We're happy to be home, but we had a very nice time with Rob's family this past weekend. We got to meet Rob's sister Gena's fiance Jay for the first time. We also got to see all five of our nieces and nephews at once, which is pure joy.

On Friday, Rob asked our niece Lauren (age 7) to describe him in three words. She picked "silly, cool, and handsome." Awww. So then for me she picked "smart, cuddly, and fun." (Announced while she snuggled up next to me in a restaurant booth. ;) On Sunday, Lauren's brother Daniel (age 9) picked three words for Rob: "crazy, funny, and good." For me, Daniel chose "smart, cool, and awesome." I think my favorite choice was Daniel calling Rob "good." I think it's how a kid would describe Santa Claus. Not sure you can get higher praise than that. :)

Anyway, here are some pics. A full post to follow.


Rob and our niece Lauren show off ice cream smiles.

Me and our nephew Daniel at Rob's aunt and uncle's restaurant.

Me and Rob with our five AWESOME nephews and nieces -- Daniel (who is almost as tall as me at age 9), Aidan, Lauren, Bryson, and Lillian.

Rob and his twin sister Kyle (mom to Daniel and Lauren).

Rob's Grandma with her two great-granddaughters Lillian and Lauren.

:(

Sorry I'm not blogging. I've been busy and sick. Seems like it's just some random virus trying to annoy me. Nothing significant enough to worry about, but just significant enough to make me grumpy, tired, and self-pitying.

Eventually I'll blog about last weekend. My shoutouts to Jess and Tim and Charlie are overdue.

For now, I'm just going to keep feeling sorry for myself.

FISA and Telecom Immunity

Last night Rob and I spent about an hour watching the video of Sen. Dodd's speech on the Senate floor yesterday in opposition of telecom immunity as part of the new FISA bill.

Most of you probably don't have an hour, but it would be a well-spent hour if you did. Sen. Dodd gives a lot of details about FISA, about the scope of spying that our government did on its citizens (think hundreds and hundreds of millions of emails -- I'd thought it was just phone calls -- regularly collecting over the course of five years), and about the current Administration's view on the rule of law. You can read the text of the speech at the same link.

Or here's a particularly good excerpt:

Indeed, Mr. President – as long as this case seems isolated and technical, they win. As long as it’s about another lawsuit buried in our legal system and nothing more, they win. The Administration is counting on the American people to see nothing bigger than that – “Nothing to see here.”

But there is plenty to see here, Mr. President – and it is so much more than a few phonecalls, a few companies, a few lawsuits.

What is at stake is nothing less than equal justice—justice that makes no exceptions. What is at stake is an open debate on security and liberty, and an end to warrantless, groundless spying.

This bill does not say, “Trust the American people; Trust the courts and judges and juries to come to just decisions.” Retroactive immunity sends a message that is crystal clear:

“Trust me.”

And that message comes straight from the mouth of this President. “Trust me.”

What is the basis for that trust? Classified documents, we are told, that prove the case for retroactive immunity beyond a shadow of a doubt.

But we’re not allowed to see them! I’ve served in this body for 27 years, and I’m not allowed to see them! Neither are a majority of my colleagues. We are all left in the dark.

I cannot speak for my colleagues—but I would never take “trust me” for an answer, not even in the best of times. Not even from a President on Mount Rushmore.

I can’t put it better than this:

“Trust me” government is government that asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what’s best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties.

Those words were not spoken by someone who took our nation’s security lightly, Mr. President. They were spoken by Ronald Reagan -- in 1980. They are every bit as true today, even if times of threat and fear blur our concept of transcendent values. Even if those who would exploit those times urge us to save our skins at any cost.

But again, Mr. President:

“Why should I care?”

The rule of law has rarely been in such a fragile state. Rarely has it seemed less compelling. What, after all, does the law give us anyway? It has no parades, no slogans. It lives in books and precedents. And, we are never failed to be reminded, the world is a very dangerous place.

Indeed, that is precisely the advantage seized upon, not just by this Administration but in all times, by those looking to disregard the rule of law. As James Madison, the father of our Constitution, said more than two centuries ago, “It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger…from abroad.”

With the passage of this bill, his words would be one step closer to coming true. So it has never been more essential that we lend our voices to the law, and speak on its behalf.

What is this about, Mr. President?

It’s about answering the fundamental question: do we support the rule of law…or the rule of men? To me, this is our defining question—indeed it may be the defining question that confronts every generation.

This is about far more than a few telecoms – it is about contempt for the law, large and small.

Mr. President, I’ve said that warrantless wiretapping is but the latest link in a long chain of abuses when it comes to the rule of law.

This is about the Justice Department turning our nation’s highest law enforcement offices into patronage plums, and turning the impartial work of indictments and trials into the pernicious machinations of politics.

Contempt for the rule of law.

This is about Alberto Gonzales, the nation’s now-departed Attorney General, coming before Congress to give us testimony that was at best, wrong—and at worst, outright perjury.

Contempt for the rule of law – by the nation’s foremost enforcer of the law.

This is about Congress handing the president the power to designate any individual he wants as an “unlawful enemy combatant,” hold him indefinitely, and take away his right to habeas corpus—the 700-year-old right to challenge your detention.

If you think that the Military Commissions Act struck at the heart of the Constitution, you’d be understating things—it did a pretty good job on the Magna Carta while it was at it.

And if you think that this only threatens a few of us, you should understand that the writ of habeas corpus belongs to all of us—it allows anyone to challenge their detention.

Rolling back habeas rights endangers us all: Without a day in court, how can you prove that you’re entitled to a trial? How can you prove that you are innocent? In fact, without a day in court, how can you let anyone know that you have been detained at all?

Thankfully, the Supreme Court recently rebuked the President’s lawlessness and ruled that detainees do indeed have the right to challenge their detention.

Mr. President, the Military Commissions Act also gave President Bush the power some say he wanted most of all: the power to get information out of suspected terrorists—by virtually any means.

The power to use evidence gained from torture.

I don’t think you can hold the rule of law in any greater contempt than sanctioning torture, Mr. President.

Greatest... Show... Ever

Right here. 

LeeAnn Rimes and other weekend adventures

Friday I was exhausted. I flew to NYC on Thursday for a Thursday night event and then jetted right back on a 6:55am flight on Friday. No time to see anyone at all in NYC. No time even to sleep. Friday was a long work day once I got back, although thankfully I worked at home, which made it much more comfortable.

Friday night we were thrilled to find that a new bar in our 'hood has finally opened -- The Pony. They are operating with a limited menu, but we enjoyed our chicken sandwiches. It was a little late, but we didn't get there until after 9pm. Hopefully the crowd will turn a little more towards the chill direction because we love having a neighborhood sports bar so close.

Saturday morning Rob and I met up with our friend Georgia for brunch at Victory's Banner. We'd never been there before and we could not have loved more the bottomless cups of chai. Wow.

While we were waiting for our table, Rob suddenly said, "There's LeeAnn Rimes." Rob is extremely gifted in the spotting people he knows department. And virtually every celebrity sighting I've had in my life has followed Rob pointing out the celebrity to me. But still. LeeAnn Rimes at a random Roscoe Village brunch joint?

Well, Rob was right. We went inside when our name was called and we were seated right next to the chairs where folks were waiting for a table. My chair was literally less than a foot from one of those chairs, and in that chair was LeeAnn Rimes. We sat down as one of the staff members was figuring out who Ms. Rimes was.

"Why are you here?"

"We just came from a yoga lesson and they recommended it."

"Why are you in town? Do you have a concert?"

"Yes, we have a show at Soldier Field tonight."

"Soldier Field? Wow. That's a lot of people."

"Well there are six of us performing."

"Do you want to sing for us this morning?"

"Oh, no, I...."

"Come on, sing for us."

"Oh, no...."

I started feeling badly for her at this point and she was seated a few tables away shortly after this. So I tried to focus back on our own conversation. Much as I'd have loved to tell LeeAnn Rimes that her voice kicks major @ss, she really deserved a little privacy. I will say that she's in amazingly great shape, although on the thin side, as all celebs seem to be.

Apart from the celeb sighting though, brunch was great. Thanks Georgia! Later that afternoon we wandered over to Greenmaker, Resa's work actually, to check out bamboo flooring. Hopefully we'll be putting in new flooring in our master and guest bedrooms soon. And Saturday night we had a lovely dinner at Bon Soiree.

Sunday was more of a work day, much like Saturday afternoon. But Sunday night we went over to one of my work colleague's homes for some fantastically grilled steak. Good food, good company yet again.

All in all we had a lovely weekend. Although I can't believe LeeAnn is leaving town without saying goodbye.

Rob-isms

More often that I'd prefer, I stay up late working after Rob goes to bed. I've probably already said to everyone who reads this, and probably blogged about it, but one of my favorite things about Rob is that no matter how soundly he is sleeping when I crawl into bed, when I say "I love you" he always mumbles "I love you" back. Sometimes I even get an "I love you, yo." Rob never remembers these moments in the morning though.

Sunday night was one such late night. Before I even got ready for bed I was fumbling around in the dark trying to plug in my blackberry when I heard Rob half-asleep tell me that he unclogged the bathroom sink drain. Sweet. It's been really annoying lately. So I said thanks, knowing Rob would not remember and tell me about the drain again in the morning. But then Rob mumbled, "French fries and the Arctic Ocean." I tried not to laugh because I didn't want Rob to wake up. But I couldn't help whispering "What honey?" "What?" he mumbled back. "You just said 'french fries and the Arctic Ocean." "I'm french fries and the Arctic Ocean. I'm hot and cold at the same time." Well obviously. :)

Must have been something about his unconscious thinking of plumbing. Who knows. But I love that Rob, even asleep, could make "French fries and the Arctic Ocean" make sense. Rob was very entertained by his unconscious wackiness when I told him about it on Monday.

Old home, New home

Rob and I spent this past weekend in DC. It was the weekend of the annual American Constitution Society convention, which I've been attending since 2004. It was also Father's Day on Sunday, so Rob came with me so that we could hang out with his dad as well. 

DC is hot. Swampy hot. I'd forgotten how much more humid and sticky it feels there compared to Chicago. Still, we haven't had enough hot weather in Chicago yet, so I was glad to pack for a trip and not even bring a jacket. I arrived on Thursday and stayed with my friend Carly that night. We went to a late dinner at a new Thai place called Rice. Well named! If you got there, skip the main dishes and just get several orders of their awesome rice. 

The ACS convention kicked off on Friday. The best part of the convention for me is catching up with the friends I've met through ACS over the years, including some truly great mentors. Friday's lunch speaker was Sen. Leahy, who gave a more nuanced speech than most elected officials give to ACS crowds. The day's programming was capped off with a speech by Eric Holder, who was particularly thoughtful as well. My friend Elliot introduced me to Holder after the speech and he was a genuinely nice and engaging man. We wished him luck guiding Obama's VP selection process these days. 

While I was busy at the convention, Rob was busy with his friend Brian schmoozing with world class athletes as they saw Alexander Ovechkin be presented with a key to DC. Friday night, Rob and I decided to grab dinner on our own before bonding with more DC friends.

DC is truly the smallest city in America some days. On Friday night we found out that Rob's friend Peter (whose place we were staying at) lives on the same block as two old DC friends of mine. And as we walked to dinner on Friday, we ran into yet another old friend of mine while crossing 16th Street. Saturday night we went to my friend Charlie's house for a party, where we met two more people who are good friends with my friends who live on Rob's friend's Peter's block. Did you follow that? Probably not. The short story is that in DC, everybody knows everybody! 

Saturday morning we scooted out to the suburbs for a couple hours. Rob's dad's wife's son's daughter (whew) was turning two. We joined the small celebration and scored some Carvel ice cream cake for our trouble. :) Then we headed back into the city. I went back to the ACS convention where I heard Supreme Court reporters reflect on this past year, a group of brilliant constitutional scholars ponder the future of constitutional interpretation, and more. I also finally tracked down one of my favorite ACS buddies, my good friend Doug. Meanwhile Rob met up with his friend Christian to watch some Euro Cup soccer. 

After a short nap at Peter's Saturday evening, Rob and I headed out to Charlie's party on Saturday night where I had a full three beers in one evening (that never happens!). My college buddy Elliot works on the Hill with Charlie, who I know from my law school internship on the Hill, so we caught up with Elliot there... the same Elliot who'd introduced me to Eric Holder the night before. (Did I mention the small world thing? :) Then Elliot, Rob and I headed off for 2am falafel in Adams Morgan, which is way more insane than it used to be. Or maybe I'm just way older. Probably both. 

Sunday morning we slept in and then met Rob's dad and his wife for a delicious Father's Day brunch at Blue Duck Tavern near Georgetown. We had a great time at brunch. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I am very lucky in the in-law department. Then we headed back to Peter's pad for the afternoon. Rob's friend Brian joined us sitting outside on Peter's sunny deck for a couple hours before we had to hit the road for the airport. 

All in all it was a great weekend, with lots of reminders of how much we loved and still miss our DC days. But when we got home late Sunday night, we were so happy to be here. 

Going out on Top

News reports are saying that New York Football Giants Defensive End Michael Strahan is set to announce his retirement.  In case you were wondering, this is a big deal.  During my time as a Giants fan, there has been a continuous torch bearer on the Giants defense.  When I was younger, it was Lawrence Taylor (if you are reading this and you don't know who Lawrence Taylor is, stop reading and educate yourself... I'm serious, stop reading this and return to the blog as soon as you've had the opportunity to properly appreciate the awesomeness that is Lawrence Taylor the football player).  LT retired in the early 90's, and was quickly supplanted by new stud, Michael Strahan.

For 15 years Strahan has been setting the standard for the DE position.  Not the strongest, or the fastest, but a lethal combination of both, Strahan was the benchmark against which all other DE's were measured.  Was Strahan as dominant as LT?  No.  But through his work ethic, athletic ability and intelligence, he consistently ranked as the one of the most effective defensive players of his generation.

I've never been the Canton, OH, but I might just make the trip in 5 years.

The hot weather has arrived

Note: Katherine wrote this under Rob's account. Didn't want the authorship line below to mislead.

This weekend was particularly muggy. Friday I was so relieved to be done with jacket weather. But then Saturday the humidity was in full force. We were at a wine festival in the north suburbs with Resa and Nick. We left around 4pm and made it to our car just in time to beat an absolute downpour. A nice stroke of luck.

Today we grilled out at Jeff and Sara's, although we spent a lot more time than planned indoors because it was still so hot and sticky out. It feels like Chicago missed the memo on how to nicely transition from winter to summer. We never got real spring!

I have been saying this forever

Gender differences in math ability stem from gender inequality.

I say this all the time. I am a broken record.

But in case you still don't believe me or need to convince someone else, here's yet another (awesome) study showing just that.

Pound It

I really really really don't think the whole Michelle and Barack fist bump should be getting this much news play. There are way more important things to talk about -- from history-making to policy nuance.

Still, I admit I totally loved the moment. That's exactly how Rob and I say to each other, "Yup, you're/we're/that's wicked awesome." So to see the moment between our Dem nominee and his wife... well, it's about partnership, pride in your partner and your partnership, and savoring life's good moments. Very nice to see. Very refreshing. Very hopeful and changeful.

But... the article from which the above picture is pulled makes me worry that my days about blogging about campaign trail sexism are far from over. Not because of this article per se, but because this article hints at the greater scrutiny bearing down on Michelle Obama. I can't imagine the likenings to Hillary Clinton are far behind, which can't mean anything good for the Obamas.

Rob's on Fire

Not literally.

Here's Rob's game preview for the Chicago Fire vs. DC United match this weekend.

Pics from Cincy

For the full weekend's color commentary, see the post below.

Griffey in the outfield with the big board announcing his career home run count in the background.

Griffey swings for the fences but flies out.

Post-game, a little dehydrated.

Dave, you have to send me your pictures from Saturday!!

Weekend in Cincy

After work on Friday, Rob and I jumped in the car and hit the road for Cincinnati, Ohio. Not too far into Indiana we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a cheesy mystery on tape. (This time we settled on Gone by Lisa Gardner, which lasted all the way to Cincy and half the way back... and was fairly entertaining too.) A little past Indianapolis we stopped at a Wendy's for dinner. And with only one wrong turn to our names, we arrived in Cincinnati around 11pm local time.

The trip was a long overdue visit to my old friend Dave, who's been living there for four years. Dave's visited us in Chicago a couple times, and we've only been here two years. Dave and I have known each other for 15 (?!?!) years now and seen each other through thick and thin. The least I can do is visit every four years!

Dave lives in a great neighborhood called Hyde Park with lots of old homes and non-chain stores. We stayed in on Friday night, but ventured out on Saturday.

For Saturday lunch we hit Zip's Cafe for burgers, onion rings and chili cheese fries. Absolutely delicious. Fully weighed down with food, we wandered into a game and hobby shop next door where we picked up a couple presents for relatives which will remain nameless lest those relatives read this post! We drove up into the hills surrounding the city where we got some gorgeous views of downtown. We drove across the river to Kentucky (Rob had never been there) and enjoyed a beer sampler at Hofbrauhaus. (Really, Rob and Dave enjoyed the sampler while I took a sip of a select few.) We had just enough time on our way back to Dave's house to stop for ice cream at Graeter's. Fantastic, especially since the sun was shining so brightly.

Dinner was with four of Dave's friends, who were a ton of fun. We ate pizza at Dewey's. Our meal included a pizza called the "Bronx Bomber," which I should have avoided on principle. Rookie mistake. Then we headed downtown to meet up with a few more of Dave's friends at the Cadillac Ranch. A little loud for these 31-year-old ears, but we managed to score a table outside. The crowd turned a little crazy after midnight, though. By 1:30am we were happy to head out. Sadly, no one in our crew had ridden the mechanical bull, but many a member of the five bachelorette parties there had partaken in that fun.

We slept in Sunday and then made our way to Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds. Yup, that's it's actual name, if you didn't already know. We were psyched for the game because Ken Griffey Jr. had hit home run number 599 in Saturday's game and the Reds were playing pretty well. Our seats turned out to be in the shade, which made the 85 degree day perfect baseball weather.

Griffey's first two at bats saw a single and a double. His third saw a pop up. His fourth came in the bottom of the 7th with 2 outs, a man on first, and the Reds holding a 5-2 lead. As if I could hate the Braves any more than I already do, they intentionally walked Griffey in what was sure to be his last at bat of the game. Who walks the number 3 hitter to get to the number 4 hitter... especially when you don't need a force out... especially when the number 4 hitter is having a better season??? Lame lame lame.

Still, the game was a great one, with some awesome small ball including a successful squeeze bunt! The Reds' pitcher had a no hitter going through five and should have held it through six, but the scorer credited the Braves with a hit following a botched throw to first base.

After the game, we hit the road. Of course we stopped for Steak 'N Shake shakes a little before we left Indiana.

Four states in just over 48 hours plus fabulous local eats, a baseball game with a home team victory and lots of time catching up with an old friend. Not bad!

I like Obama a lot

A dear friend of mine spoke highly of Obama in my presence and then said, "Oh I'm sorry, do you hate him?"

What?!?!?!

So I thought I'd put it on record. I am a huge fan of Senator Obama. He's one of my home state Senators. I'm a big fan of writing to my elected officials and the best letter I've ever gotten back came from Obama's office (on reproductive rights... naturally). (Already noted on this blog here.)

When I've got multiple good options -- as I believe we have had in this Dem primary -- I don't stop liking some of those good options just because they're not my first choice. Especially when I can see November lurching towards us. No candidate in this race is perfect for me. But I'm not exactly mainstream America, so that's no surprise. I appreciate the issues that are getting real airtime for the first time in a long time -- poverty, universal healthcare, renewable energy -- and that's thanks to the whole field of Dem candidates, not any single person (except maybe Edwards on poverty). The policies in this Dem primary are the best we've been offered in my lifetime.

Still, I do get seriously frustrated by sexism, racism, homophobia, age-ism, implications that atheists have no morals, religious bias, and any other type of bigotry. I get particularly worked up about sexism. It's probably my bias as a woman, but it's also because I worked on those issues professionally for a good while. These issues are part of my life's passion. (See the blog post below this one.)

Truly, even if I'd voted for Obama in the primary, I'd be just as worked up about the sexism in this campaign. I don't think I'm any less offended by the racism circulating just because I voted for Clinton. But if I am, shame on me. We'll never be rid of all the -isms unless those of us not affected by certain -isms still speak out against them.

But I digress. I'm proud my party is nominating such an excellent candidate... Barack Obama. I love that I'll be voting to break down a barrier in the fall. I love that his name is Barack Obama. I'm excited for change. I don't regret my vote this primary. I also don't begrudge the votes of the majority of Dems for Obama. It's why I'm a fan of democracy. It works.

A New Must Read

There is much to blog about but time is short, so here's something quick that I want to say sooner rather than later.

Buy this book. And tell other people to buy it too.

During my last 2 years of law school I worked as a research assistant for Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney as she wrote this book on gender equality and the status of women in America. It's exactly the type of book I love to read, want to see more of, and wish someone would pay me to write. So I was honored to ride Congresswoman's Maloney's coattails, so to speak, and be a part of her fantastic book.

The book was (finally) published about two weeks ago. (See how behind I am in my blogging!) If you buy it, you'll also get the thrill of seeing my name in the acknowledgments section alongside some very kind words. Whoo hoo!

You may wonder what parts of the book I worked on. Well, the chapter for which I had primary responsibility, and of which I wrote significant sections, got cut. Perhaps not surprising to regular readers here, that chapter was on women and the media. A subject I care about a great deal. But I also worked on the women and the workplace and women in politics sections, so there are tidbits of my work to be found in the final version of the book.

More important than my contributions, however, the book is a straightforward read about the progress women have and have not made. Unlike most social critiques, the book also gives real suggestions for all of us to follow to help America move closer to real gender equality. It's written by a great elected official who also happens to be a woman. It was a thrill getting to know Congresswoman Maloney as part of this project. The issues in this book are her life passions. No strings attached... which is far too rare in politics these days.

Please do give it a read. I really think you'll enjoy it.

Rob the Writer

Some folks reading this might know that I used to write for a soccer web site back in the day (and still occasionally cover the US Women's National Team for the site). Gone are the days when there's a women's professional league to cover though, but there's still the MLS.

The MLS, of course, is much more Rob's cup of tea than mine. So Rob applied to the site to start covering the Chicago Fire. They published his first article yesterday and it's great! Soon they should be publishing his game preview for the Fire vs. NY Red Bulls match this weekend.

Rob will be covering the Fire all summer, so we'll post the links to his articles here!

No, we're not ignoring you

I keep meaning to blog lately, but I keep not getting to it. I haven't even been reading blogs lately... which is crazy unusual for me.

This past weekend was really nice for us. We finally got some sunshine. Although only on one day. And only on part of that one day. Nevertheless, Saturday morning was so gorgeous that Rob and I abandoned our normal couch potato ways and walked to the lake.

One of the very best things about living in Chicago is living right next to an enormous body of water. I love driving down Lake Shore. I loved staring out the courthouse windows last year at the lake. Yet sadly, Rob and I don't get over to the lake to hang out very much save for the occasional 5K.

We're a straight shot down Belmont Avenue to the lake -- less than a 2 mile walk. We meandered there on Saturday, stopping for bagels and coffee along the way. Then we wandered down the shore for a while before circling back home.


Rob relaxes by the lake.

The view looking towards downtown.

The view looking straight out on the water.

Sunday we headed downtown to the Green Festival. We collected a ton of brochures about ways we can live greener lives -- and then felt guilty for all the paper we'd collected at a green festival. Hmm. We particularly enjoyed the booth of an awesome retailer of green home improvement products, which coincidentally happens to employ my sister to run their marketing efforts. And we got some free energy efficient lightbulbs from the city of Chicago. Nice.

Monday night brought one more adventure -- me and Justice Scalia in the same room! A very large room, obviously, but the same room nonetheless. The Seventh Circuit Bar Association annual conference hosted Justice Scalia and his colleague Justice Stevens at their big dinner event. It was interesting to hear Justice Scalia speak in person. I thought he was pretty entertaining for a lawyer making jokes about the practice of law. I'd imagine non-lawyers/legal types would have been a little bored. I also enjoyed the playful back and forth between Justices Stevens and Scalia.

The real bonus was that I got to say hello to my former boss, Judge Wood, and her husband, as they were also in attendance. Ah, to be a clerk again....

Yea Indy!

We are home sweet home from a very fun weekend in Indy. We went down for the Teb's Troops Third Annual "A Call to Arms" event. I've blogged about Teb's Troops before, but it bears repeating! Teb's Troops is an organization founded by law school classmates and dear friends of Tricia E. Black ("teb"), who lost her battle with Stage IV melanoma nearly two years ago. Teb's Troops is dedicated to raising money to fight late stage melanoma -- a cause Rob and I enthusiastically support. Tricia was a grade school friend of mine and my twin sister's... dating back to our kindergarten carpool.

This was our third year sponsoring "A Call to Arms" but the first time we got to attend in person. I got to see several grade school and high school friends who I haven't seen in ages. So that was really special. The whole event was fantastic, to say the least. Fantastic food and wine along with a silent auction. Rob and I bid up a storm and won a suite for an Indiana Fever game and... dinner cooked by Top Chef contestant Valerie in our own home!!!! We still can't believe it!

Even better, of course, the women behind Teb's Troops raised thousands and thousands of dollars more for cancer research. Awesome.

So here are a couple pictures from our great weekend.

Rob's and my names have never been on a banner before, so we had to take a picture. :)

Here I am with Teb's Troops officer and kindred spirit Nadine... at a bar in Broad Ripple after the event. (For a before shot, click here. :)

Here's Liane after the event. She and Michael hosted us for the weekend and we had a blast with them.

Ah, the late night picture we took of ourselves at the bar.

And what would an evening be without some air guitar courtesy of Rob. Here he's joined by Nadine's husband Roger.

Politics, Bigotry, and Other Stuff

I have two different things bouncing around my head today.

First, Hillary Clinton should not have explained her strength as a candidate in racial terms. I'm sure anyone reading this blog has also read Clinton's post-Indiana comments. I'm angry, I'm frustrated. Strength as a candidate has nothing to do with whether one particular group supports you (unless, I suppose, that group is "all Americans", but even that support shouldn't come at the expense of all the other human beings on the planet).

Even more importantly to me, strength as a Democratic candidate should never, ever be measured in broken demographics. We are not the party of just blacks, or just whites, or just women, or just gays, or just Christians, or just anything. That's the deal. We are the party of everyone. It's why I'm a Democrat. So the only folks worthy of exclusion -- and in fact warranting exclusion -- are those who seek to divide us along those lines. I've long said that I'd give anything for Obama to stand up and say, "If you're voting for me because you think a woman can't be president, I don't want you." Same goes for Clinton. She should reject any vote cast because her opponent is black.

This is what happens when we let racism and sexism fester. When we pretend like we're past all that. We're not. And when things get tight, we expose ourselves.

I won't try to justify what she said with things Obama's said or that his supporters say. That's not what this post is about. Nor would it matter if Obama were sexist every minute of every day, which he is decidedly not! Clinton should apologize for the implication -- intended or not, it doesn't matter -- that white Americans are better than black Americans. And she should fire her damn pollsters who have been setting this up as a strategy. The fact that her poll numbers are so racially polarized should trouble Clinton greatly, not be viewed as an advantage. No excuses. No pointing fingers. Apologize. Take it back. Regret it sincerely.

The only winner in the oppression sweepstakes is the oppressor. We lefties should keep that mantra, which I'm sure I've borrowed from someone else, on repeat. The only winner in the oppression sweepstakes is the oppressor. The only winner in the oppression sweepstakes is the oppressor. Let's get real.

Leadership means making people's lives better without cutting down others to do it. We are sorely lacking that kind of leadership in politics today. Politicians are too scared to take stands on issues that would make people's lives unquestionably better (ahem, reproductive justice, affirmative action). And the few that do take stands seem all too often to take them in an effort to demonize fellow citizens (ahem, the so-called "war" on Christianity). Americans need to start demanding more. Asking our leaders to be actual leaders is just the first step.

And because oppression is getting me down today, here's the second thing, something about the rising attacks on feminism and acceptance of those attacks. If it were my graduation, I would stand up and turn my back on Schlafly and Matthews. Schlafly is a veteran of anti-women hate speech. There is a world of difference between accepting her right to openly hate women and giving her public accolades for making a career out of that hatred. For shame, Washington U. For shame.

Operation Get Organized

Rob and I have spent a good part of the last two weekends organizing our lives a bit better. The biggest project was clearing out the third bedroom in our condo which has been pretty much unusable since we moved in... packed full of boxes and utterly lacking in furniture. We have been meaning to turn it into a home office, and finally it's getting there.

Last Thursday we picked up a desk we'd ordered from Pier 1 and Saturday we bought some shelves from Ikea. Some of you may have seen these shelves in our previous homes... a set exactly like this now resides in Resa's home and another set like this, but lighter wood, left Philly with Valerie. Yet here we are with more. Couldn't beat the price and fit. Rob's become a pro at assembling them.


These shelves mean that our guest room closet floor is now free of books. Sadly, but perhaps fortunately, we seem to have lost all my law books somewhere between here and Philly via DC, so the bulk of our books fit on these shelves. We've probably given away 10 boxes of books in the past couple years -- always so painful to give away books. There's another two boxes of books to give away following this latest round of organization. But the Happy Hollisters and classic Nancy Drews are staying with us. :)

We still need a real desk chair, but Rob also assembled this lovely desk. Purchased in large part because it is "no tool assembly." Whoo hoo! Now my computer has a home besides our dining room table. Except I'm still at my dining room table right now. Hmmm. Anyway, you can see the rough draft from my 8th grade "obituary" sitting on the desk. Along with an awesome Chicago neighborhood map Resa gave to Rob a while back that we need to find a place for.

The next stop on our organization tour was our deck. We have this lovely outdoor rug made of recycled plastic, purchased in Saugatuck, but it kept getting blown away. Enter planters. We now are, in theory, growing heirloom tomatoes, parsley, two types of basil, dill, and something else I forget. Thanks to Target and Home Depot.

Last but not least was something for the downstairs. A lovely bar from World Market, a store we love. I've been eyeing this bar for a year and finally caved. We thought we might want to something that held more of our china, but in the end this was the right pick.

Now most of our bar ware, wine and liquor can be stored outside the kitchen. Note the Portuguese clay pitcher, the lovely decanter from Nick and Resa last Christmas, the champagne flutes and beer glasses from Lib and Colin, the bar tools from Hugh, and other stuff from other folks I'm sure I'm forgetting.

I know this is a much less interesting post than my adolescent plans for world domination, but I have to say, we're pretty darn psyched to be making use of all the space in our home. We feel like real adults or something.

The real good news is that work has been a lot less crazy since Resa and Nick's wedding. Rob and I have nearly had entire weekends to just take care of all the things we've been putting off. That's been quite a relief. :) It also meant that Friday night we got to hit the town for a fun concert with Resa, Nick and Jason. Saturday night we got to head out to the 'burbs for some extended family time and then have dinner with Al and Jen. And Sunday we got to have brunch with Bishop and Karen, and then enjoy chillin' and playing a random but really fun German puzzle game in which I achieved domination by starting up a lot of monasteries. Who knew.

And who knew weekends could provide so much free time.

Some things never change

Rob and I have been doing a ton of organization lately, finally setting up a workable home office. In so doing, I've had to sort through a lot of boxes of old things. Saturday night I found a box of papers from my middle school and early high school years. In 8th grade, my social studies teacher wanted us to ponder the rest of our lives, so he had us write our own obituaries. Sounds kindof morbid, but I remember the assignment being pretty fun. Well, I found my "obituary" in that box of old papers on Sunday night. Pretty hysterically accurate in capturing my adult personality, if not my ultimate achievements. Unless I'm running for Senate next year.

Here it is in full (although my last name and the last names of my grade school friends referenced are redacted):

Former President Katherine Gr--nb-rg M-n-r-k died of natural causes on her 100th birthday, Jul. 21, 2076. Ms. M-n-r-k began her political career by attending Harvard law school and always being very active in protests she believed in. After graduating she worked for a prestigious law firm in Boston for 7 years. She actually began her career by running for the Senate from the state of Mass. at age 33. She easily defeated her Republican opponent with a 4 to 1 majority. She served 3 6-year terms getting many pro-equality bills passed and working hard at keeping abortion legal. With all her work she caught the public eye and decided to run for president. She and her supporters worked hard and their efforts paid off. In 2028 she was elected President and served 2 terms, keeping America out of all foreign wars. In 2037 she went back to the Senate and served 12 more years. In her last year, 2049, she finally got the congress to make all anti-abortion laws void. In 2050 she retired and lived in a small cottage in Boston with her husband and 2 kids. She lived to see her daughter graduate from Yale and her son from Princeton and get 5 grandchildren. Many famous people will attend her funeral such as the famous actress Kelly N---, the renowned astronaut Sarah S---, the heart surgeon and peace activist Tolly G---, the famous pediatrician/heart surgeon Nzinga A--- and the not-so-famous advertising agent Cara J---. She will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Sunday. The funeral is closed to the public. Her assets were equally divided between her family, charity, and her close friends.

Total awesomeness

If you want a feel good moment today, check this out. My eyes totally welled up, but I cry at everything... like that commercial when the older brother comes home at Christmas just in time to sing with his little brother.

Anyway. I can't remember who told me about this earlier this week. (Sara, was it you?) I'm glad I finally found the story somewhere. Thanks!

Oy

On the one hand, as a liberal, I desperately want the Dem primary to be over so that we can stop the infighting and prepare to win in November.

On the other hand, as a woman, I see Hillary Clinton getting treated in a way no candidate has ever been treated before. It makes me want to scream.* So when I read this article today, my heart broke a little.

I was telling Rob the other day that I think part of the reason my affinity for the Clinton campaign has cemented lately is emotional. I can't wait to vote Dem in November for whoever our nominee is, which is why I didn't make up my mind about who to vote for until shortly before the Illinois primary. But as the days go on, the reasons that keep me in the Clinton camp are not the ones that originally brought me there -- the policy, the experience. Instead, it's identity politics. I wonder if that is reasonable or proper or for the best. Whether it is or isn't, though, it's the truth.

I see this woman who is hard-working, unconventional, nerdy and ambitious... and then I see her being derided. The derision is allegedly based on substantive things. But when you put it in the sunlight, you see that at its core is a lot of misogyny, a lot of hating Hillary Clinton because she's female+ambitious, a lot of mocking Hillary because she's female+nerdy, a lot of sneering at Hillary because she's female+unconventional. If you didn't have the female+, you wouldn't have anywhere near the level of derision. That sucks. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. And I have started to take it personally, as much as I wish I wouldn't.

I think about my life as a hard-working, nerdy, somewhat unconventional, and (let's face it) extremely ambitious woman. I think about the times I've been kicked around for my ambition, while my male colleagues and counterparts have been praised for the same ambition. I hear commentators criticize Hillary Clinton's tone of voice and I flashback to the time I questioned a co-worker for getting mad at me during political debates, but not getting mad at another co-worker when he expressed the exact same opinions. The explanation? My tone of voice. Seriously. My response? An internal vow to work on my tone of voice. Seriously. I immediately assumed my co-worker was right.

Maybe I do have a really irritating tone of voice that has nothing to do with my gender. Or maybe high-pitched voices + intense political debate is a bit more striking in this day and age than it should be. Or maybe a bit of both. Maybe I am more obnoxiously ambitious than my male counterparts. Or maybe a petite, young-looking Midwestern gal + overt ambition is also a bit more striking in this day and age than it should be. And we all know that different is typically grating at first. Until you get used to it.

I don't discount the possibility that I might just be particularly annoying. In truth, especially lately, I'd rather that be the case. But the thing is, I don't think Hillary Clinton is annoying. Or evil. Or conniving. Or a bitch. I think she's pretty awesome, but still a politician. Certainly no worse than the average politician on the scales of human decency.

Her voice has never bothered me. Her ambition, her self-assurance, her perseverance have only inspired me, never angered me. Her politics? Well, mostly I like them, sometimes I don't. (In particular in the fall of 2005 when she gave a speech I felt did a disservice to reproductive justice.) But I've never forgotten that her policy speeches during her 2000 campaign gave me goosebumps. They were so smart. They were so well-considered. I wanted to be like her. I wanted to be that smart, that bold, that fearless.

So yes, I want this primary to be over. But I also don't want Hillary to leave the race. (Something about cake and eating it too comes to mind....) I'm dreading that day. Because I am afraid that it will legitimize society's kicking around a woman who dares to be as ambitious as men. Because I am afraid that it will mean that our country is way too far away from hearing a woman speak about policy and only hearing the policy, not the tone of voice. And most of all, because I am afraid that it will mean that maybe I'm not annoying, maybe the truth is that me being female+whatever is annoying. And that would just suck.

*I sincerely hope it goes without saying that I write all this without in any way discounting the mistreatment Obama has received at times in this campaign, including some attacks from the Clinton campaign. The fact that both candidates have been wronged does not, to me, lessen the impact or offense of any particular wrongs. I am just choosing to write about some of those wrongs here, not saying they are worse than any other wrongs.

Help Stop Malaria

Sometimes it's easy to overlook the fact that most of us are so fortunate that we can save another person's life with small gestures. We can't do everything, but when tiny, easy ways of making a difference are thrown in our laps, we should take them.

I just got the email below from my friend Doug, and because of it, the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets program has just gotten some money from me. I know how many lurkers there are out there, so please consider donating $10 or more.

Thank you!!

Email from Doug:

As you may know, I had malaria when I was living in Cape Town five years ago. Needless to say, it wasn't the most fun I've ever had. Fortunately, because of my robust health and the immediate and high-quality medical treatment I received, I was never in any real danger of dying. The same isn't true for over a million persons a year, mostly children under five, who die of malaria.

One of the most cost-effective ways of preventing malaria is sleeping under insecticide-treated bed nets. And, thanks to the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets program, it is pretty damn easy to donate nets. For $10, you can buy a net for a child online.

There are lots of important causes in the world, but this is certainly one of them. Please help if you can.

Thanks for your time,

Doug

More wedding pics

Here's a link to a slideshow by Resa and Nick's amazing photographer. These photos are out of this world awesome.

My fave is the one of Rob laughing riotously during Libby's toast. It's about 2/3 of the way through. The photos are even better with the music playing, so turn your sound on!

There's also a couple during the ceremony where you can see my should-be-trademarked frowny-smile that I do when I'm emotional. :) And there's a super fun picture of me dancing with my Uncle Joe closer to the end.

Go Cubs Go!

My heart will always belong to the Indians, but I do admit to a certain fondness for the Cubs these days. There's something really awesome about having a MLB baseball stadium within walking distance of your house!

We managed to score four tickets to Monday night's game and persuaded Bishop and Karen to come with us at the last minute. Turned out to be a great game... close until the end and then the Cubs ran away with it.

Yea for baseball and last minute plans and friends who love both. :)

Resa and Nick's Wedding

My baby sister is married! The wedding was amazing and perfect and awesome. I didn't take many pictures because I was so caught up in the evening. But here are a couple shots.

Resa poses on a piano before the ceremony.

Resa and Nick with Nick's whole family.

Resa and my dad share their dance -- a waltz.

Resa and Nick have their first dance.

My mom bonds with her two "former sons-in-law" -- Resa's former fiance Jason and my former boyfriend Mark. Jason even walked my mom down the aisle. Awww. And how great does my mom look!

Bachelorette Fun

I'm home from my sister's bachelorette party and back at the computer doing more work. Fun.

So here are a few pics.

The bachelorette crew.

Sisters out at the bar. Notice our rockin' giant pink rings.

And showin' some sister love.

Fantasy Top Chef Team updates

Yeah, I'm not so good at this. In part because I refuse to put people I can't stand on my team, which is a severely limiting factor. On that principle, I'm about to bump Antonia.



This is where I was for the most recent episode. Not sure what moves I should make, but I'm not even in 800th place out of less than 1200. And I'm sure a lot of the folks below me aren't even playing the game any more.

Selfless blog promotion

More commentary of mine relating to the post below was e-published here.

Sweet.

Things that make you go hmmm...

... and want to tune out entirely.


From Salon.com's Editor-in-Chief's blog today.


A Salon.com front page column today. The front page headline on Salon actually reads "Why Hillary surrounds herself with girly men." On Salon. Seriously.

Fluff

I've decided to avoid all things political in public for the next month at least. It's getting crazy out there from every angle. So I'm turning to something else very dear to my heart these days -- superstar girl group Danity Kane.

I watch way too much reality television for my own good. A few years ago I stumbled onto MTV's Making the Band 3. Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Sean Combs/whoever was holding auditions to put together a group of girls who could sing and dance. Then in the season finale, Diddy chose... no one! What?!?!

Tricky Diddy. He allowed three girls to stick around and come back for Making the Band 3, Season 2, when more girls would audition. The lucky three -- Aubrey, Aundrea and Malika. Aubrey was the shoo-in. Aundrea was my favorite (and coincidentally the shortest). Malika, well, you knew she wasn't going to last.

Season 2 closed with Malika long gone and 11 girls vying for the 5 spots in the band. The girls picked: Aubrey, Wanita (now D. Woods), Shannon, Dawn, and... Aundrea!

They chose the name Danity Kane because it's the name of a cartoon super hero that Dawn draws. Weird name, but good instinct. Their first CD launched at number 1. Their second CD dropped last week... at number 1. Surprisingly enough, they really do have talent. They work hard. They care about each other. They love their work.

Yes, they don't wear enough clothing on their album cover. Yes, the lyrics could not be cheesier. Yes, the techno-synthesized crap drowns out their awesome voices a bit too much. Yes, one reviewer rightly asked if Diddy was using their latest album to prove to America that the girls were the 5 horniest ladies in America. But maaaan, the album is FUN.

I have long believed in the power of cheesy music. It makes the heart happy. Many moons ago, while on a date, I had a rather fierce debate about music.

My argument: Even though 'N Sync is totally cheesy, they are also really fun and therefore worthy of my unabashed enthusiasm.

My date's argument: Anyone who likes 'N Sync has no appreciation or understanding of real music whatsoever.

My response: Well, that's rather harsh. [Except I was probably a lot more indignant.]

I should have known then that it wouldn't last... because I was totally right. Sometimes you need music with lyrics so bad they make you laugh but so catchy you smile while you sing them all day. Sometimes you need music that makes you unable to keep yourself from rocking out like a cheeseball.

There's a reason Rob and I have had just one CD in our car stereo for a week straight. There's a reason Rob and I have been cracking each other up by singing lyrics to each other ever since we got that CD. The reason is Danity Kane, people. So much fun. So much fluffy, cheesy goodness. (Although totally inappropriate with kids in the car. :)

Vegas Pictures 2

Mark took this picture of Rob and me as we walked towards Mark and Chris just after we arrived in Vegas.


Rob in the gardens at the Bellagio.


Me and Mr. Playmobil Knight in the FAO Schwartz in Ceasar's.

Rob, me and Chris at the end of a day at the pool, outside our cabana.

Rob, Chris and Mark on the escalators in Ceasar's.

Vegas Pictures

Mark, Chris, Rob and me chillin' out in our room on the last night of vacation.

Rob and me by the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

Outside Greenberg's Deli at New York, New York. Shout out for my mom's last name.

And right next door was Gonzalez y Gonzalez (you can see it in the background of the picture above!). Shout out to Rob's mom's maiden name. What are the odds!

The boys waiting for the fountain show outside the Bellagio.

A Very Modern Vacation*

Rob and I got back from Vegas on Thursday... about 10 hours later than scheduled due to the extraordinary unhelpfulness of a certain airline, which will remain nameless. Our vacation itself, however, was fantastic. We loved having warm, sunny weather for days on end. And we loved vacationing with Mark and Chris.

For anyone not in the know, Mark is my bestest of best friends from college and Chris is his awesome, awesome, awesome boyfriend. Once upon a time, Mark was my college sweetheart. We dated for years before we figured out we were actually meant to be best friends. Very fortunately, we've managed to stay that way ever since. Even more fortunately, we have significant others who don't think we're crazy for doing so!

Vegas turned out to be the perfect foil to the endless winter we've been experiencing in Chicago. Sunday night we caught a great show called Le Reve, which was unlike anything I've seen before and pretty spectacular. Monday we slept in (yea!!), hit our first Vegas buffet, and spent the last couple hours of the day at the pool. (Oh, and I snuck in quite a bit more work than I'd like throughout the vacation. :P) Monday night was steak night at Delmonico's -- yum. Tuesday we rented a cabana at the pool and camped out all day long. Tuesday night was French food at the hotel -- even more yum. Wednesday we wandered the Strip all day. We rode the roller coaster at New York, New York, watched the fountains at the Bellagio, walked the whole length of Ceasar's (no small feat), and then some. We took a different route for dinner -- just off the Strip, Japanese food cooked at the table. A perfect ending to a gluttonous vacation.

Besides lounging and eating, we had an all around great time just hanging out and cracking up with Mark and Chris for four days. Truly nothing beats the company of great friends. We can't wait for our next trip together -- PV here we come!

Oh, and Rob and I are up a whole $14 from gambling. Sweet!


* Coined by Chris.

Travels

First off, I want to say a quick thanks for all the emails about my Uncle Ed. They are much appreciated. He lived a long, full life and his death came after several years of health struggles. Somehow that lessens the blow. But I am still grateful for all your thoughts.

Our trip to Cleveland went off remarkably easily given the weather in the Midwest this past weekend. We were very glad to be there, even if the airlines did everything in their power to make it impossible for us.

Now we're on our last night in Las Vegas. We made it here with no troubles as well. We're vacationing with Mark and Chris... and we're having a very relaxing and very fun time. The weather has been gorgeous, which we desperately needed. I'll post in lots more detail once we get home.

Another round of travels

We're setting off on our first of five plane flights in five days tonight. We'd originally planned on just two flights, but fate has intervened.

My great uncle Ed -- 94-year-old brother to my maternal grandmother -- passed away this week. So instead of flying to Las Vegas tomorrow morning for a short vacation, Rob and I are heading to Cleveland tonight so that we can attend the visitation. My Uncle Ed was a fun-loving man who never married. He and his sister Helen lived out their adult lives together until Aunt Helen passed away in 1999. Every year until 1999, Uncle Ed and Aunt Helen remembered my birthday with a thoughtful card and a small check (always in Aunt Helen's handwriting :).

Uncle Ed loved puns. He had a great joke with the punch line " quarterback" that I wish I could remember now. He told it to me over a decade ago during a family gathering. At the next family gathering I asked him about it because I remembered enjoying the punchline, but I'd forgotten the joke. Turns out he had too. We spent an entire weekend trying to come up with it. :)

Uncle Ed was proud of the fact he never married. He once told me that it was very good for his health. He was rather fond of sexist humor. Never the raunchy stuff, but still I remember being a bit jolted the first time I heard it from him. It was so counter to my impression of him. I think he used that humor fairly sparingly around me. I'm not sure what he knew about my political views, but I'm sure he suspected they weren't in line with the majority in our family.

Uncle Ed hadn't been in good health for quite some time. So I am not surprised at his passing. That never lessens the loss though. I feel the pain particularly for my grandmother, who is one of five children but now has just one sibling left.

After our brief trip to Cleveland, we will belatedly head to Las Vegas, which seems especially sinful. We're meeting Mark and Chris there, so I'm sure they'll turn our spirits around quickly. And due to the last minute flight plan changes, we now have to fly through LA, which means we get to see Libby and Colin (briefly) on Sunday for lunch. A nice and fitting silver lining.

Wow...er

It's the second day of spring and there is a blizzard outside. We expect up to 10 inches in the Chicago area. It's nice to know Mother Nature has a sense of humor.

Top Chef Fantasy Update

Um, yeah.

I logged a whopping 1 point this week. Perhaps I'm being smited for my reverse sexism. But I'm not changing course yet. I am dumping Nikki though. And if Antonia keeps being catty, I'll dump her next.

Wow

See, here I was naively thinking, "Why didn't Hillary release her first Lady papers and schedules earlier than this?"

I don't know why I didn't remember that the media is full of morons who, on the five-year anniversary of a war that the vast majority of Americans desperately regret and that continues to kill civilians on the order of 25,000 to 125,000 a year, would rather talk about really important, newsworthy things like this.

Updated: To make yourself feel better but also more depressed, follow the last link with this one.

Yes, but what's the fee to avoid the fee?

Rob and I just saw a commercial for National City Bank that rocked.

The banker was explaining their email alert system that tells the customer when her balance has hit a certain point. The customer asks why it would do that. The banker says it's to help her avoid fees. The customer replies, "Ah, fees, I knew we'd get to that eventually. What's the fee?" The banker says, "No, it's to help you avoid fees." The customer says, "Yes, but what's the fee to avoid the fee?"

Rob and I lost it laughing.

So. Damn. True.

Brilliant ad.

Top Chef fantasy league

Sara found a Top Chef fantasy game you can play every week. The game even gives you programming code to show off the three players you picked for the week. Here's mine for Week Two (and yes, Rob, I'm sexist... I know):

Manly men

This excellent post on Pandagon is a must-read about the way masculinity is put forth as both endangered and unfixed in American society. That is, men can lose their masculinity at any moment if they don't stay on guard... and men all around us are losing their masculinity. Oh my.

I recently had a bit of an email debate with some folks who will remain nameless about the propriety of insulting a man by calling him an a woman. The question was posed to another female who shared my views, "Are you insulted when someone calls you a man?" Ah, but that only proves the point. The idea behind the question was that of course you are insulted because you are a woman and by your nature abhor the idea of being masculine, and therefore it is a fair and proper insult in both directions. The catch is that no one ever insults a woman by calling her a man*... that label is saved for the times when you want to compliment a woman. So yes, you are insulted. But not because you've been called a man. Rather, because you've been told that your success makes you less of a woman.

* The pseudo-exception being lesbians, who are insulted for trying to be men. But I view this as yet another variation of the same theme.

Sleep time!

This weekend has been a whole lot of cancelled plans. Friday night I bailed on friends to work. Saturday night I bailed on friends to work -- and turned down two more sets of plans when other friends called to see what I was up to while I was working. Today I bailed on brunch with my lovely husband to continue sleeping... after having gone to bed at 7am. Just now, I finished my work for the weekend. Thank goodness.

All this stuff to do stems from three things: (1) every single project I have right now got busy in the last five days, (2) I really love and care about the projects I'm working on, and (3) I have no ability to say no when someone says "do you have a few hours for ....?" I definitely need to work on the last thing. But in the mean time, despite my absolute exhaustion right now, I feel kindof empowered for having worked so hard for the past five days.

And I did get to sneak away from my computer for an hour on Saturday to attend a friend's baby naming ceremony, which was wonderful! So the entire weekend was not a wash as far as my actual life is concerned.

Anyway, it's sleep time now! If you haven't heard from me in while, well, now you know why. :)

My Cousin Fro

My cousin Paul lives and breathes George Mason basketball. He's in this video clip about Mason on the Post. His snippet is close to the beginning. He is identified as "Fro, a GMU fan." I believe that's for the giant wig he often wears to games.

Random updates

Cool things that have happened lately:

-- I got to have dinner with my friend Claire while traveling for work. We had awesome pizza that was too big to finish.

-- Rob went to a general election campaign kickoff for Anita Alvarez, who we were proud to vote for in the primary for State's Attorney in Cook County.

-- Scooters opened for the season! Our friends Jeff and Sara joined us in our first Scoot session of 2008. Amazingly yummy as always.

-- I skied down an entire mountain in Vail and didn't injure myself. Making good use out of catwalks, of course.

-- I had a sushi dinner on a private plane. (That sounds so much more posh than it actually was, so I'm going to leave it at that.)

-- Top Chef premiered. I already don't like the guy from NY who drops f-bombs all over the place and the gastronomy guy, even though his food looks amazing. I do like Stephanie and was psyched to see so much female talent this season. The Top Chef house is literally just down the street from me, so Rob and I are crushed we didn't see them while they were filming!

-- Coral left the Gauntlet III when she realized she can't manipulate the whole world any more. Yea!!!! (Although then I felt kindof bad because what will she do now that she can't spend her days manipulating the whole world? I'm not sure she has any other skills.)

-- When I got back from my last trip, which was less than 48 hours, Rob and I were so happy to see each other that you'd think we'd been separated for a month. We are such losers.

I say all this cheesy stuff, big and small, because some other crappy stuff has happened lately too. Mainly to people we love and care about. So it's good to think about the happy things... or else I'd sit around cursing the fates all day long. To those who fate is not treating as well as you deserve, we're thinking about you all the time. xoxoxo.

Off to work.

Long time no blog

I know.

I was traveling* for work all last week and then was gone again Monday and Tuesday of this week. Now, of course, work is piled up.

Eventually I will blog about everything we've been up to lately. In the mean time, here's a thought-provoking blog post about Spitzer, prostitution, sexism, and more.

* I can never decide if I like to spell this word better with one "l" or two... seeing as both are correct spellings. So every time I write this word, I waste time re-thinking the choice, never remembering what I last did. I think the two "l" spelling is more British-English, but I think I used to like that better. Until today. When it looked weird. So I deleted an "l." Hmmm.

Mental Note...

Humidity makes new leather shoes expand. Blisters likely to follow after walking a few blocks. My feet are now killing me... and slightly mangled. Fun.

Apple Holler... and other adventures

We have had a good weekend mostly at home. Friday night was a birthday party for some work friends. Then on Saturday, Rob and I drove up to Wisconsin to try out another ski resort -- Alpine Valley. We went late in the day because they have discounted lift tickets if you arrive after 3pm. All in all, we think we prefer Wilmot for Wisconsin skiing. The rental boots at Alpine Valley were a little lower grade, so our feet were looser, which meant we had less control over our skis. The slopes were fine, but it seemed like there were a lot more people, a lot more inexperienced people in particular. So I for one was more nervous heading downhill. We were definitely spoiled in Jackson Hole. When you're the worst skier on the mountain, you don't really worry.

After a couple hours, Rob dragged me over to an intermediate slope. As we unloaded the ski lift at the top, another skiier (who, strangely, was walking in her boots with skiis in hand) stepped into my path at the foot of the ski lift and then stopped. Yup, stopped. Right in front of an active ski lift. I tried turning to go around her, but I was only a foot or so away from her when she stopped. My attempt seemed to keep her from falling over, but didn't do me any good. We still collided. I hit the ground hard. My hat flew off. I cursed my less than nimble ways on skiis and scrambled to get up and out of the way of the folks behind me. (Meanwhile Rob rescued my hat. :)

I've got some nice bruises on my legs (from landing on the skier's skis, as she dropped them in the collision) and a rather stiff neck today. Could have been a lot worse, I suppose. Mostly just embarrassment knowing 30 or so people saw me smash into another skier. The good news is that I made it down the intermediate slope pretty easily. And if I hadn't felt like crap after hitting the ground at the top, I might have tried a couple more intermediate hills.

In happier news, on our way up to Alpine Valley, we had passed a giant sign for "Apple Holler," which looked like some kind of restaurant and orchard. So we stopped on our way back to Chicago and it was AWESOME. Most everything on the menu, which was expansive, had some sort of apple component. As did the large majority of the desserts. All the main courses came with 4 or 5 side dishes, so my chicken sausage came with apple kraut, potato pancakes, cinnamon apples, sweet potato casserole and veggies... plus we got cornbread and honey apple butter. Fantastic.

The whole drive to Wisconsin and back was worth it for Apple Holler alone. Seriously, so good!!! We also bought some apple wine and a caramel apple at the Apple Holler store, which we enjoyed post-dinner tonight.

We arrived home in time to meet Resa, Nick, Steph and Jason out for Jason's 30th birthday adventure, which included a scavenger hunt designed by Resa to make Jason find and talk to single women all night. We had a great time... such a great time that we were out until about 4am. Fortunately, Garcia's is open until 4am. We made it there just in time to get a late night snack, or early early breakfast before heading home.

Needless to say, today was a chill out, relax and run errand day. Tomorrow I head out of town for most of the week for work. So it was good to have some time to ourselves at home this weekend.