Life, Mon-Sun

bizzybblogs: 
This pretty much sums up the journey one takes to find good stuff to post.


Would this be as much fun if I had to do it for a living? Probably not, but I would be happy to try it.

Flock of Ducklings at Sunset

Swimming in circles

Order is restored.

It was a beautiful day in Birmingham today. The ducks and geese were back at our lake. Trees are blooming, although I fear far too early. The groundhog predicted an early spring, but I doubt he meant February. Looking forward to another beautiful day tomorrow.

Cartoon: Duty Calls

Duty Calls

Weekend Cat Blogging #299

A very early and, no, I haven't read the instructions yet, attempt with my new Photoshop software. I have a very willing subject in my guy, Jules.

This week's Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted by Luna and Amar at Catsynth.

Feel Good Friday

Best version ever! I first heard Gloria when I was 10 years old. I had not heard of Van Morrison. Who knew I would still be enjoying this song AND Van Morrison 40-plus years later. I do not remember how long it took me to stop singing "G-L-O-R-I-A" for every spelling word that started with a 'G". I would guess a long time after it was funny.  Happy Friday!

Weekend Cat Blogging #298

We have invited our cousin from Wyoming, Eddy Mildew, to be our guest host for Weekend Cat Blogging. Eddy adopted a dog lovers' home in which to move and immediately took charge, stealing the hearts and minds of even the most fervent dog admirer. The most fun has been hearing how Eddy is teaching these dog lovers how wonderful it is love and be loved by a feline.

Eddy, helping unwrap Christmas presents.

Eddy, advising on early morning make-up tips.

Eddy - ironing board or diving board?

Caught! Eddy, hiding ping pong balls!

 Eddy, enjoying a basket of warm laundry.

Eddy Mildew, cousin to Jules and Vincent and new owner of my wonderful niece and her family, is our entry for this week's Weekend Cat Blogging, hosted by Samantha, Clementine, and Maverick at Life From A Cat's Perspective.

Sweet Birmingham

After the horrific news about the senseless poisoning of historic oak trees in Toomer's Corner at Auburn University, I was happy to see there would be positive news out of Birmingham this weekend. First, several Birmingham chefs and restaurants are James Beard Finalists, and now three of my favorite places will be highlighted this weekend on CNN's Headline News.

Friday through Sunday, Birmingham will be the focus of a 2.5-minute CNN Headline News segment called, "My City, My Secret," which looks at a city's hidden "gems." 

Birmingham entrepreneur Deontee Gordon, 27, will talk about Railroad Park, Urban Standard and the What's On 2nd store, which are all located downtown. The segments will air Friday at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. . (Continue reading)

Feel Good Friday

I Heart My iPhone

I do. I heart my iPhone. Those words only sound amusing to those people who knew me as early as 10 years ago when I did not even want to carry a basic cell phone and back when I thought cell phones were pretentious and intrusive. Of course, they can still be a bit intrusive but now I rarely, if ever, allow it out of my sight.

Today, after I wake up to its alarm, I reach for my iPhone before I reach for my eyeglasses. I'm sure there are other phones that may be better. It doesn't matter. My heart belongs to my iPhone. Thanks, Apple!

Women Are Not Livestock

 These farm animals may be female but they are not adult human females who are capable of making decisions about their bodies without intervention by the government.... the mostly male, mostly white, mostly old government.

Apparently, Wyoming will do anything to get their abortion bill passed, including assigning the bill to the Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources Committee. To catch up with what has happened in Wyoming, see the progression here:

1) Wyoming House rejects abortion billl  (it required doctors to offer ultrasound images to patients)
2) Wyoming lawmakers consider new abortion bill 
3) House passes abortion ultrasound legislation

These links were provided on The Maddow Blog, who received the following email update from Representative Lisa Shepperson, rancher and mother-to-be:

After passing the House…..HB – 251 has been passed to the Wyoming Senate and has been assigned to our Standing Committee – Agriculture, State and Public Lands and Water Resources!! Yes….our Ag Committee!! Now, we realize that sometimes bills get assigned to strange committees due to work load, etc, but that is NOT the case here. It has been assigned to this committee to try to make SURE it comes out and goes to the floor.

Needless to say, Sue and I and quite a few other women legislators are furious! I guess maybe some of these men think we are livestock!?!?! I am a 5th generation rancher and am used to dealing with livestock and the issues with them….so it will be an interesting committee hearing for me. By the way, Sue is also a rancher….both her and I have spent our lives on issues dealing with ag. We just never dreamed we'd be in the Ag Committee dealing with this issue. We are strategizing now….trying to decide if we should show up to the Committee Meeting with our cow-bells on and mooing! The bill is tentatively scheduled to be heard on Thursday afternoon, upon adjournment.

We just wanted to update you on the status of this ridiculousness. Thank you for your time.

Aye, yi, yi, yi, yi! Or, should I say, baaaa, baaaa, baaaa, baaaa!

Pro-Labor Union Protests in Wisconsin

Just a few things labor unions fought to provide us.
40-hour work week
Child labor laws
Eight-hour work days
Sick/vacation days
Safety

Thirty thousand people are protesting in Madison, Wisconsin and where are the media?! Ed Shultz and MSNBC have been the only ones focusing on this until today when CNN finally sent a camera. And, President Obama? Where are you on this issue?

I stand with the public workers. PUBLIC is not a four-letter word.

Bill Clinton, President of the World Documentary

My refrigerator magnet

 Bill Clinton, President of the World documentary

Hosted by Chris Matthews, MSNBC

 Presidents' Day, Monday, February 21st at 9 p.m. CST

Don't miss it!

 His presidency was the beginning of a phenomenal second life chapter for Bill Clinton. His influence is what I believed as a young teenager, mistakenly, that all Baby Boomers would achieve. He is a past president who is accomplishing amazing things with his influence and commitment and, say what you will, he gives the US a positive face around the world.

GOP Should Be Required To Take An Oath

Hey GOP! Primum non nocere - First, Do No Harm

Republicans: A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of "justifiable homicide" to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus—a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation, House Bill 1171, has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote, and is expected to face a floor vote in the state's GOP-dominated House of Representatives soon. (Continue reading...)

I think Southern Beale summed this up best in the post Your Modern Pro-Life Movement:

I bring up the religious point because of the people behind the bill:

The original version of the bill did not include the language regarding the "unborn child"; it was pitched as a simple clarification of South Dakota's justifiable homicide law. Last week, however, the bill was "hoghoused"—a term used in South Dakota for heavily amending legislation in committee—in a little-noticed hearing. A parade of right-wing groups—the Family Heritage Alliance, Concerned Women for America, the South Dakota branch of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, and a political action committee called Family Matters in South Dakota—all testified in favor of the amended version of the law.

These are all right-wing "Christian" organizations. Shame on you. I wish you people would get Raptured already and leave the rest of us the f**k alone. (my bold)
 

And, here's something the Democrats are working on, certainly NOT AS FRIGHTENING!!
Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), right, and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sent a letter to commissioner Bud Selig and MLB Players Union head Michael Weiner urging them to ban the use of smokeless tobacco in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement. (Continue reading...) 

Arcade Fire's The Suburbs: Album of the Year

I feel so uncharacteristically cool! Arcade Fire won Album of the Year last night at the Grammy Awards in what the media called an "upset". Who says?

I have been listening to Arcade Fire for several years, yet it appears they haven't made it to the playlists of the Grammy-watching mainstream audience. It is a good record. I blogged about it briefly in August 2010 in Sunday Reflections: The Suburbs and in December at 2010: The Year of Poutrage. I first heard Arcade Fire in 2005 when the HBO's outstanding series, Six Feet Under, used their song, Cold Wind. That single and the album, Funeral, were nominated for Grammys at that time.

If you are behind the Grammy audience, go to iTunes now and check out them out.

My Valentine? THE Newsperson in Cairo

Forget the Silver Fox, Anderson Cooper. Richard Engel is THE news guy in Cairo! Physically, I see a little young Jeff Bridges here, but better. Gorgeous, brave, and smart!

Follow on Twitter @richardengelnbc for current information on events in Cairo and their future.

Weekend Cat Blogging #297

Valentine's Edition of Weekend Cat Blogging,
hosted by Mr. Oliver and Mrs. Noli at The Accidental English Teacher

We're baacckk! We tried to stay away but we missed our cat blogging friends. We've been busy trying to stay warm during this cold (for Alabama) winter. 

Do you turn the fireplace on.... just for your cats? Guilty! The gas bill this winter? Don't ask.

Here is Vincent in three stages of REM sleep. The last position is not a stretch, it is a brief sleeping position. It is about this time that he wakes himself up to reposition.

Happy Valentine's Day Weekend (and, President Lincoln's Birthday)

Twitter - Another Small Step

I am no longer a Twitter virgin!

Racial Slurs Addressed at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa

The University of Alabama administration addressed a second racial slur on campus on Wednesday. An email was sent by the Vice President for Students Affairs that read:

From: "uanews"
Date: Feb 9, 2011 2:08 PM
Subject: A Message from the Vice President for Student Affairs
To: STUDENTNEWS

Last night, an unknown individual or individuals chalked words on our campus that disparaged members of various racial and ethnic groups, including African American and white. Since the words “first amendment” were chalked next to some of the offensive words, we believe that this could have been an attempt to assert First Amendment rights. The words were removed as soon as they were discovered. UA is investigating and will take appropriate action against the individual(s) responsible.

We support First Amendment rights. However, we find the use of these words to be mean-spirited and unacceptable. As members of the UA community, the majority of our faculty, staff and students reject the notion that this type of behavior reflects our collective experience. As a community, we respect and value each member of the UA family, and I trust that we will make decisions that reinforce and reflect that commitment.

Mark D. Nelson
Vice President for Student Affairs
and Vice Provost

Last weekend, a member of a white fraternity was accused of yelling a racial slur at a black graduate student. UA President responded with a mass e-mail to students and the fraternity student is currently being disciplined. The national organization of Delta Tau Delta has apologized to the graduate student to whom the slurs were aimed.

This is certainly not an isolated incident at UA. The election of President Barack Obama in November 2008 brought similar incidents aimed at instructors and students.  As an alumna of UA, I appreciate the administration's prompt response to this incident. While several people are throwing around the term "first amendment", I do not believe hiding behind the first amendment for hateful and mean spirited slurs is any more legitimate than hiding behind the Bible. I must say, however, that the behavior of adults recently have not provided very good role models for our college students and children.

A poll in the online Tuscaloosa News asked the question:  "What do you think of the University's response to the racial slur incident?" It does not surprise me that almost fifty percent of the few who responded felt it should have been handled privately. That is such a southern response. Dirty laundry, however, needs to be aired and addressed publicly for us to open a useful dialogue on seeking elimination of hate-based language and actions.

Despite its sordid history, UA is not the only campus and Alabama not the only state that are guilty of such actions. That is why I was happy to see this addressed in Inside Higher Ed.

....... Higher education is not immune to these trends, she said. "A college campus is a microcosm of the wider world. What we see on the news -- i.e, Congressman John Lewis being spit upon and called racist names as he heads to the Capitol to vote on health care reform -- we will also see on our campuses."

How should Alabama and other colleges respond to such incidents. Tatum argued for extended discussion. "The best response to 'hate speech' is more speech, specifically more intentional opportunities for dialogue that help students, both white and of color, talk about the continuing legacy of racism in our society, and understand the ways that their own behaviors either reinforce that legacy or interrupt it," she said. "Such dialogue is most effective when it is sustained over time (as in a multi-session workshop or semester-long course, for example) rather than a one-time experience such as a public forum or lecture on the topic. Such dialogue is often difficult to initiate because it is still true that many faculty, staff, and students have limited experience talking about race in racially-mixed settings and there is often fear about doing so, fear that one might say the wrong thing and offend, or worse yet, reveal hidden prejudices. Yet the only way to get past this fear is to have the conversation, learn from the inevitable mistakes, and come back the next day or the next week, and try it again.... Like when exercising creates sore muscles, the cure is to exercise more regularly, not to abandon the effort. "

Alabama enrolls more black students than most flagship institutions, with 3,379 self-identified black students comprising about 12 percent of the student body in fall 2009, said Jimmy Williams, special advisor to the provost on diversity issues. While Hogan said that there are pockets of racial divisions on campus – students who only converse with peers of the same race – Williams said it’s a much brighter picture than it was when he came to the university 23 years ago. “I have seen the interaction between different groups on students increase,” he said. “I do not see these types of incidents happening very frequently on campus.” .......... (read entire article here).

Feel Good Friday

Raising the Retirement Age

In an attempt to save money, raising the retirement age to age 70 by the year 2025 is being reconsidered. It is not a new idea. In fact, my senator, Richard Shelby (R-AL), floats the idea every few years.

Without a doubt, Social Security has been a wildly popular and successful program. One reaches their retirement age and receives a set amount of money each month, either as a supplement to one's own savings or as the primary and only source of income. It has certainly been advantageous in keeping our country's elderly out of poverty.

Economists have been concerned about this moment since before the baby boomers were labeled as such. Vice President Al Gore tried to alert us to the urgency of this issue when running for President, but he used the word "lock box". And, the country laughed and laughed and laughed and repeated "lock box" in ways that would thrill Beavis and Butthead. Hee, hee...he said lock box.

As with most big ideas where money is concerned, this will only hurt the poor. If you're poor, you probably won't even live to retirement age. One reason is the lack of adequate health care - one's body tends to wear out from labor jobs. So, once again money will be saved on the backs of the poor. Secondly, while I believe there are some people in certain jobs that can still contribute without doing harm, for the most part I believe many employees need to move out of the way to allow younger people to move in. Let's face it. Most of us run out of good ideas about 20 years before we retire, right? Many of us are now just coasting to retirement anyway, right?

I have been more convinced of this recently. For example, if I only listened to people my age (56) and older, I would be convinced this country is going to hell with no chance of ever surviving all that is wrong with us. Yet, if I listen to younger people, I am inspired by all the possibilities. I am inspired not only by their words but by their actions. In fact, I am amazed at what is already available to us - thanks to younger people. So, I believe we should drag our tired old asses into retirement as soon as possible.

As for me, I have had my eyes set on age 62 since I started working 44 years ago. I am certainly not interested in putting in another eight-plus years if I can at all prevent it. There is, of course, this thing called legal tender that I need and I was counting on my Social Security, that is, until recently.

It Could Happen: More of the GOP's Uterus Obsession

GOP: Debating a 1973 Law in 2011

Go back and listen to all those GOP campaign ads and press conferences and Sunday morning shows. Go back and read their tweets.  The GOP seemed focused on three things: 1) jobs, 2) jobs, 3) jobs (and seeing President Obama fail). Even the rhetoric about repealing the "job-killing" health care law, which they did symbolically, was all about jobs.

So, what is being debated? Abortion. Seriously. Abortion. (source)

H.R.3
Latest Title: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
Sponsor: Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors (200)
Latest Major Action: 2/8/2011 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee Hearings Held.

H.R.165
Latest Title: To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to nonprofit tax-exempt organizations for the purchase of ultrasound equipment to provide free examinations to pregnant women needing such services, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Stearns, Cliff [FL-6] (introduced 1/5/2011)      Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. 

H.R.212
Latest Title: Sanctity of Human Life Act
Sponsor: Rep Broun, Paul C. [GA-10] (introduced 1/7/2011)      Cosponsors (62)
Latest Major Action: 1/24/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution.

H.R.217
Latest Title: Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act
Sponsor: Rep Pence, Mike [IN-6] (introduced 1/7/2011)      Cosponsors (162)
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

H.R.358
Latest Title: Protect Life Act
Sponsor: Rep Pitts, Joseph R. [PA-16] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors (117)
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

H.R.361
Latest Title: Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2011
Sponsor: Rep Fleming, John [LA-4] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors (37)
Related Bills: S.165
Latest Major Action: 2/1/2011 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

H.R.374
Latest Title: Life at Conception Act
Sponsor: Rep Hunter, Duncan D. [CA-52] (introduced 1/20/2011)      Cosponsors (61)
Related Bills: S.91
Latest Major Action: 1/20/2011 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

H.R.593
Latest Title: To require States to report information on Medicaid payments to abortion providers.
Sponsor: Rep Olson, Pete [TX-22] (introduced 2/9/2011)      Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 2/9/2011 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

S.91
Latest Title: Life at Conception Act
Sponsor: Sen Wicker, Roger F. [MS] (introduced 1/25/2011)      Cosponsors (12)
Related Bills: H.R.374
Latest Major Action: 1/25/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

S.96
Latest Title: Title X Family Planning Act
Sponsor: Sen Vitter, David [LA] (introduced 1/25/2011)      Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 1/25/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

S.121
Latest Title: Pregnant Women Health and Safety Act
Sponsor: Sen Vitter, David [LA] (introduced 1/25/2011)      Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 1/25/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

S.165
Latest Title: Abortion Non-Discrimination Act of 2011
Sponsor: Sen Vitter, David [LA] (introduced 1/25/2011)      Cosponsors (3)
Related Bills: H.R.361
Latest Major Action: 1/25/2011 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

(WhenAreTheJobs.com)

Be An Organ Donor

Organ donation is close to my heart. My friend of forty years first got a cadaver kidney twenty years ago. It completely changed and improved her life.

My friend is now down to 12 percent kidney function and dialysis has become imminent. She is back on the transplant list. She was told the waiting list was five years long because there were so many people in need of organs and so few people donating organs.

It is easy to sign up. Just indicate you want to be an organ donor the next time you renew your driver's license. It saves lives of people like my friend, Moose.

February 14th is National Donor Day. What better way to show love than giving the gift of life:

• freeing someone from dialysis, someone like my good friend
• give eyesight to someone
• help burn victims heal
• joint their bones and save limbs

If you have questions, you can have them answered at the National Kidney Foundation Fact Sheet. The kidney is the organ most commonly donated by living donors, although parts of the lung, pancreas, and liver can be transplanted. Go here to read about being a living donor.

Sign up today! I thank you and Moose thanks you!

Palin's VP History

This must be interesting news to former Vice Presidential candidate, Geraldine Ferraro. 

Sarah Palin and/or staff's lack of American history knowledge is not surprising. What is astonishing is that she believes, along with numerous voters, she is a viable candidate for an executive office. Surely to God they meant to tweet: ...the first GOP female VP nominee... Surely.  (source and source).

Valentine's Day: Toys for Guns

Putting one's beliefs into action is not always easy. Yet Alabama's Sherri Williams, owner of Pleasures, is doing just that. Pleasures is America's first drive-through sex toy store.

For Valentine's Day, Pleasures is offering this deal:  Trade your guns for "romance-inspiring gifts," aka, sex toys up to the full value of the gun as determined on site by a licensed gun dealer.

The goal is 300 guns off the streets, at least for a little while. Williams said the offer is "my contribution to making love, not war here in Alabama, where guns are legal and adult toys are not." Williams has fought Alabama laws against sex toys with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union. She now has stores in Decatur and an old bank building on University Drive where employees offer drive-through service, including free condoms. (continue).

This certainly gives true meaning to Make Love, Not War. Way to go, Sherri!

Your GOP Since The Election: What have they done for you lately?

What They Say.....

What They Are Do....

Bill Text
112th Congress (2011-2012)

House Bills

1 . Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act (Placed on Calendar Senate - PCS) [H.R.2.PCS] [PDF]
2 . No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.3.IH] [PDF]
3 . Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011 (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.4.IH] [PDF]
4 . Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.5.IH] [PDF]
5 . Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2011 (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.10.IH] [PDF]
6 . Reclaiming Individual Liberty Act (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.21.IH] [PDF]
7 . Pipeline Safety and Community Empowerment Act of 2011 (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.22.IH] [PDF]
8 . Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2011 (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.23.IH] [PDF]
9 . To redesignate the Department of the Navy as the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.24.IH] [PDF]
10 . Fair Tax Act of 2011 (Introduced in House - IH) [H.R.25.IH] [PDF] (source)

First, the "job-killing" phrase of the health care law has been disproved or, at the most, considered relatively negligible (source). For bill number 2, I will never understand the obsession by this party's supporters with a woman's uterus. So, priorities 1 and 2, are nods to their base. House bill number 3 rids small business of too much paperwork? Okay....

...that's why all our efforts are centered around jobs. ~ Eric Cantor

Bill O'Reilly Interview with President Obama

It appears to be the custom that the President of the United States is interviewed on Super Bowl Sunday by whichever network carries the game. This year, it was Fox News. Instead of choosing a "journalist", and there are a few who have journalism backgrounds at Fox, they chose Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly is popular with the extreme right but, in my opinion, is really a slap in the face to the President. Remember O'Reilly came to Fox from Inside Edition, a tabloid entertainment television show.

As expected, O'Reilly did what O'Reilly does best. He was disrespectful. He interrupted the President of the United States 43 times. Sitting on the edge of his chair as if ready to pounce at any moment, he did not allow the POTUS to finish a complete thought. Worse, he asked President Obama what it felt like to be hated and then reiterated it to emphasize hated.

When a lie or an idea is repeated over and over again, some people can begin to accept it as fact. Fox News has perfected this. Granted, these people may already be susceptible to this for whatever reason. I find this to be the most frightening part of today's mass information age.

This video confirms my fear and not because it is in Iowa. These false beliefs are all around the country, perpetuated as news and journalism by Fox. At first, I thought this was a spoof of Fox. But, sadly, it wasn't. It is my guess that everyone in this video, including Frank Luntz and Sean Hannity, could not name the leader of Egypt two months ago. Yet, today, they all have opinions as to how the U.S. and POTUS should be handling this situation.




It is very likely that President Obama does seem like "the other" to these people and to some here in the South. Maybe he is foreign to them personally so, therefore, he must be a foreigner and someone to fear or criticize or label so their small minds can understand. Notice how they dance around with these outrageous claims. Why don't they just say it - we're scared of him because he is black.

Notice too how the extreme right has started connecting liberalism with other "scarier" words like terrorists and Islamists and Muslims. It is my belief that not even the American public would stoop this low if the man in the White House right now was white. Granted, they stooped pretty low with President Clinton but that was personal and not worthy of stockpiling firearms.

Feel Good Friday

I thought of this song after a recent high school alumni sock hop. Gotta laugh! No one is immune!

Men and Women: Deal Breakers

After my last long-term relationship dissolved, a younger friend asked how I intended to date. Huh? Online dating had not occurred to me so I didn't think to consider this as an option. Although I still have no interest in dating again, my hopeful friend still checks in with me to offer encouragement.

I followed this link from a blog in The New York Times to discover what the dating deal breakers were these days. These made perfect sense to me and it was comforting to discover men and women, for the most part, felt about the same on the issues outlined. Passion and patience (insert the passion takes patience joke here) made it on the must-haves for men, while responsibility and family life were more important to women.

Interestingly, the biggest difference in men and women on the can't stands' list were in body size and racism. Men listed being overweight as a deal breaker, while women do not like racists.

As Chris Rock joked about meeting someone the first time:  you are not meeting the person, you are meeting their representative. Sometimes one doesn't know what the must-haves and can't stands might be until things stop being polite and start being real, to paraphrase a line from MTV.

What is on your list of deal breakers in a relationship?

Source: eHarmony

Bama Bound!

I can not contain my excitement any longer! My brother and I have tried unsuccessfully to get family to attend our alma mater, The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Our persistence has finally paid off. My great-niece has registered to attend UA this fall!

Her brains and social consciousness - obviously from our side of the family - landed her substantial financial scholastic scholarships and a place in Honors College. We are so proud of her!

From Wyoming to Alabama.....culture shock meet great adventure!