The Gay Marriage Debate

A message board that I visit frequently had a thread about the subject of gay marriage. Previously, whenever the subject of gay marriage would arise I would shrug it off and not even think to form an opinion one way or another. My reasoning was that it didn't concern me so it didn't really matter. If the legislation passed that was fine, and if it didn't, that was fine too. After all, it didn't interfere with my life. Anyway, for some reason while reading the thread I decided it was time to really ponder the issue.
I've decided that I firmly believe gay marriage should be legalized, and surprisingly it didn't take a long time to come to that conclusion.
Not allowing adults of the same sex to marry is discrimination plain and simple. It's actually reminiscent of a time when interracial marriage was illegal. Now, most of the reasoning that is presented to argue against gay marriage is based upon religious (mainly Christian in this country) principles that God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman. The problem with this argument is that there is a separation of church and state in America. If homosexuality is considered immoral or sinful by you or your church (which is another subject for another day) that's fine. The clergy of said church are not obligated to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony or to even recognize it religiously speaking. But that rationale should not interfere with the government's ability to recognize a same-sex marriage.
By not legalizing gay marriage, America is sending a very mixed message. On one hand, you are not allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation for job opportunities or housing, but you are allowed to discriminate when it comes to a legally recognized marriage.
It's inconsistent and unfair in my opinion.

Ian 9.5 - The wireless edition

As a lot of you know, my son was born prematurely at 24 weeks gestation and as a result had an extended stay in the hospital. 3 months to be exact. When we finally brought him home, he was on a host of medications (5 I believe), an iron supplement, had an apnea monitor, and needed continuous oxygen. Just holding him could be tricky because you had to make sure you didn't get tangled up in all of his cables. Slowly but surely, we have been whittling away at all of these medications and machinery. The apnea monitor....GONE, Meds....all except for one are GONE, Iron supplement...See ya later...but that pesky oxygen just kept sticking around. Well, I have great news. As of 9:18am, that oxygen is outta here baby!! I introduce to you for the first time at 9.5 months old, wireless Ian!!!!!

Sweetie, please don't give Mommy a HEART ATTACK

So I had my first real lesson in "Always keep your eye on the baby" yesterday. I was preparing to feed my son his new favorite meal-oatmeal with applesauce if you're curious- when I noticed that the detachable tray on his high chair was dirty. So because I am a genius, I buckled him in and then took the tray with me into the kitchen to clean it off. As I'm walking back into the dining room, my son decides this would be the best time use all of his strength to fling himself forward so that he could place his head between his feet (the kid is flexible, gotta give him that).

It gets a little fuzzy at this point, but I'll try and recall what happened.

I know I must have yelled out something, because hubby came running out of the room yelling "What's wrong, what happened?" I also noticed that somehow the tray that I had been making spotless was no longer in my hands.
With my new found freedom, I decided the smart thing to do would be to grab my child so he wouldn't land head first onto the wood floor (yes he was buckled in, but it's a thin little strap for goodness sakes). As I'm running toward my firstborn, I realized that I had apparently strapped 50lb weights to each one of my ankles which made it take about twenty minutes to take the 3 steps needed to grab him. After I finally reached him and sat him in an upright position, I prepared myself for the onslaught of tears that was bound to begin any second, and what does this little daredevil do? He looks at me with wide eyes and a slight grin as if to say "That was scary, but FUN!"

I passed out shortly thereafter

Gather the lynch mob

There has been quite the uproar about comments made by golf announcer Kelly Tilghman jokingly saying Tiger Woods should be lynched--read about it here--

I think when most African-Americans that:

a) know the history of slavery
b) have heard the stories of violence and abuse against African-Americans, and
c) understand the discriminatory practices (past and present) against us

hear the word 'lynch', it evokes an immediate negative response. So yeah, when I read the title of a news article saying "Kelly Tilghman calls for Tiger Woods to be lynched" it definitely produced an "Are you freaking serious?!" reaction. But when I read what she said in context and watched the video, I'm not convinced that her comments were inherently racist.
The comment was ridiculously stupid, thoughtless, and inconsiderate, but I don't think it was malicious.
I think her intention was to express that since Tiger Woods is dominant in his sport the only way young golfers have a chance to excel is to get him out of the picture. Her word choice of lynch was horrible given Tiger is a black man, and the American history of lynching black people, but I get her point. She was trying to make a joke and it backfired. Heck, I could see myself making the same kind of joke (possibly with or without the use of the word lynch). She could have chosen another word and still made her point, but I don't think she made the connection in her mind.
I think it's important for African-Americans to remember that while the word lynch does have a painful history behind it, the word can and often is used without reference to Black history. On the flip side, I think it's important for non-Blacks to realize that the treatment of African-Americans in this country has produced some deep scars that will take a quite a while to heal.
Just my .02 cents.

Don't know who to vote for?

Check out this link for the best presidential candidate for you. It's a fun little quiz

http://glassbooth.org/

My New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!!

For the first time ever I have decided to create New Year's resolutions. I don't know why exactly, but here they are:

Meditate on a consistent basis (At least 3 times a week)
The past two months I've started meditating and I've found that I really enjoy it. I don't know that I'm doing it properly, but either way it has been good for me and I want to do it regularly. I doubt that I'll do it daily at this point, but I at least want to do it 3 times a week.

Stop procrastinating/manage my time better
I am the queen of procrastination. I will put off the things I know I need to do, simply because there is something more fun that I want to do. A lot of the time it's a very conscious decision to procrastinate, so I just need to stop being lazy and do what I know I need to do. Other times it boils down to simple time management. I'm late to a lot of places because I think I can shower and dress in 15 minutes, when it actually takes me longer(duh).

Become better organized
I'm not as effective as I should be. I lack organization skills. I think I would benefit from having a schedule to organize my day which would help me effectively manage my time.

And there you have it, my 2008 New Year's resolutions.

I hope everyone reading has a wonderful 2008