good housekeeping

This (little gem of a guide) is also printed (almost word for word) in an encyclopedia style cookbook my mom has (which has some really good, but really time consuming recipes). It was her mom's.

My favorite line is "he is master of the house...you have no right to quesiton him". Did women of the 50's really not cringe at that?

the progress of women

Overheard on the train platform this morning:

Woman 1: Why you here?
Woman 2: I going to work.
Woman 1: I didn’t know youse got a job. Why you git a job? You got a nice booty, why you git a job? Girrrl, you should get yo self a man instead.

I kid you not.

Pledging

your virginity to your father?

Right now the Today show is doing a segment on the Purity Ball. The claim is that its growing out of the "abstinence movement" and is to help reduce the 80% (!?!) of high schoolers who have sex by their 18th birthday. First, I find it pretty hard to believe that 12 yr olds (well, at least the 12 yr olds I grew up with, maybe "things are different now") REALLY understand what a vow of chastity means. Also, its unclear (to me at least) if this is a vow of purity till marriage or till their 18th birthday. And I don't think that this can be good for parent-child communication. What if they ARE "involved" in HS and thinking about sex and then don't feel comfortable talking to mom/dad about it because of this pledge from middle school?? Lastly, I really get the impression that part of this vow is having your father "protect" you till you have a husband to "protect" you. Ugh. What happened to empowerment?

However....My biggest issue....

There's no mention of the sons. The boys these daughters are (or are not) have sex with. Appearently noone cares about their purity.

I hate double standards.

on the road...

Things I've seen while on the road in the past few days:

1) The Toddler Spa. This is disturbing for so many reasons that I don't think its necessary to type out.
2) A lady that got hit by a car. I heard the screech while on 17th and rounded the corner onto Walnut in time to see people rushing to her. By the time I was close enough to see what was going on, it was obvious she was ok. She was sitting on the curb and people were retrieving her shopping bags and shoes (ballet flats) for her. The driver was in tears and calling someone (the insurance or police I'd guess). On a side note, she was not in a crosswalk. Us jaywalkers should probably keep this incident in mind.
3) A taxi driver that let someone (me) unparallel park....seriously, the driver waited for me to pull out of my space, despite that it made him miss the green light. I'm not sure if he was trying to run up the meter, or if Philly cabbies are just that much nicer than NYC cabbies.
4) 6 girls with beehives camping on the grass outside the library. I wish I had a camera with me this morning. I also am rather curious as to why they had beehives, and why they were camping out on Penn's campus (sleeping bags and all, assuming they didn't drag them out there for an 8:40 am study session).
5) The finish line. I finished my second half marathon (the first being in fall 04) on Sunday in 1:59:58, just shy of my two hour goal. Not bad considering that miles 4ish-9 were uphill and I lost about 20 seconds/mile on my pace for that segment. Luckily, what goes up must come down, so 9-12 were pretty nice....then the 1/4 mile uphill to the finish line! A masochist planned that.

the crackberry

I cut class for the first time in grad school today. I just couldn't go. My prof wasn't there anyway, and was sending a PhD student as a guest speaker. I'm sure he was good, but I couldn't do it. I went to the gym instead (this was way more appealing, and will also allow me to go home after class at 9, instead of rolling in at 11 pm all gross and still unshowered). I'm not going to revert to my undergrad days and make a habit of this, but man it felt good.

Karma did nab me a smidge and I had to run with a flimsy hairtie and floppy hair. Granted, I did pack my bag this morning instead of last night, but I bet its somehow divine punishment anyway. I have NO IDEA how people run -- or do anything hot -- with their hair down. The one piece I couldn't get to stay back was driving me batty, not to mention the parts sticking to my neck. Yuck. Gross.

Anyway....while I was on the treadmill (I cannot wait for warmer weather/later sunshine) I noticed the girl next to me had a blackberry....sitting on the ledge (like where one would put an ipod or similar)...and she had an ipod too, so it wasn't some new fangled musical one or something. Now the kicker...she kept checking it!! What the HELL is so important it can't wait 30 or 40 minutes till you're off the treadmill? She looked young, maybe 19, but even if she's somehow way older, what can't wait? I don't ever want to be that tied to my email. Ever. (I check it like 34242 times a day as it is....)

Guess What? We can vote too!!

Saturday's A Rugby Day posted a letter that was published in this month's rugby magazine. The magazine was nice enough to put in an editioral bit response about women's rugby along with it.

It amazes me that in 2006 there are still people out there who appearently believe a woman's place is limited to being at home in the kitchen.

Media Fury

I refer you to Blondie's Post about the latest and greatest.

As I need to go write to the editors now, I will refrain from further comment at this time.

amen

While I was walking to yoga (gasp) last Friday, I passed by a church in my neighborhood advertising for their Sunday sermon. I stood in front of it for a minute wishing I could take a picture, and then it occurred to me I have a camera phone. (I think I'm just a little old for that to be a logical thought, since my first cell phone was in the days before free nights and weekends, when it was actually for emergencies (and in my case, LD) and not a primary line) Sadly, its not the clearest photo...

But you can read the main part -- "Suffer, Suffer, Suffer". Now tell me, who is going to walk by the church and think "oh, the reverend/priest/dude will be talking about how we are burning in sin in life and will continue to do so in the afterlife! What a terrific way to spend Sunday morning!" Maybe as a confirmed Catholic, who like many confirmed Catholics who never went to church outside a few random Holy Days and the brief period where we had to sign in during the Confirmation Class series (that's trust right there), I just don't understand the draw of the church....or maybe this is as ridiculous a concept as I think!

power

Power bridges the gap between responsibility and authority, as per the wisdom of my "Managing People" professor.

Regardless, I don't think I'd mind having this kind of power: