and the wisdom to know the difference

I'm not so great at keeping up with this blog. I'm definitely not what I'd call a real deal cheese wheel blogger. But I've found that writing here does some kind of good in my life. The simple act of writing is enough to keep my brain healthy amidst the whirlwind I live in right now (2 year old, being broke, working full-time, politics in Oldhio, dirty house, eroding landscaping on my property that beautiful gay men created, fleas!!!). It's been good. Hopefully, I'll write more...more that's somewhat better, anyway.

99% of my brain:
I'm about to quit a job that I've been in for over 5 1/2 years. I'm pretty down about leaving it. The change must happen though for a good number of reasons, one of which is the necessity for more money (a whole 75 cents more--but it adds up!). I could list all the nasty and heartbreaking others, but won't to save my ass. No steam needed in the last week.

The place is a non-profit career counseling/education agency that serves women in career/life transition. The clients I help often face multiple barriers in their search for meaningful work and a sustainable income. They come to us to find the answers they've been carrying in their pocket all along. A rainbow of options, with Jesse Jackson at the end, cheering them on. Or maybe someone just as fabulous and skilled. The work and results are absolutely rewarding. I've had a chance to recruit and work alongside hundreds of volunteers and witnessed the life change of well over 400 women. Have even changed myself and of course, learned via the stories of countless, what NOT to do with your career (thank GOD!!!). I'll make some mistakes in the future, no doubt.

My next job will provide me with a lot more space in my noggin to be creative, I hope. It's still in the non-profit, counseling vein--but with the Catholics! And thankfully it won't be as fucked up and complex. So I hope to write more, maybe. And hell, think more about what I'm writing. Or write what I'm thinking, or write...think...

And now Ms. Natalie has linked me to her blog. Yikes. The pressure to do well is on!

Happy Fall, ya'll. And to the Canadian...single-sex education benefits those who want to be there in addition to benefiting the world. Just ask Miss Jamaica World 2006!

Oh, quick poll: is it benefiting or benefitting? The dictionaries disagree and the bets are on...

dervishes

we attended an evening with the whirling dervishes of turkey last night. it was pretty amazing. and on top of that, i was soooo tired, so i ended up half quite lucid the show. midway through the long and very quiet set i realized that they reminded me of the "spinners" at grateful dead shows, minus the tall camel haired hats--and obvious influence of islam. and a little more dreamy.

can't-a-name-a-mammal

tonight we ate this for dessert...



...and later, i told my son that this animal was a cantaloupe.

i'll take part of the blame for the low scores he gets on future aptitude tests.

the rest i'll leave for the idiots who name zoo animals after fruits!

Our Mayor, Mike Coleman is a big fan of the Pearl Alley Market. I myself was down at the market today, in fact, doling out information about a non-profit I work for. As I got up to leave, I spotted the city big whig with his bodyguards (2 of them, in fact).

On my way out, I told the pie selling ladies from southeastern Ohio that the Mayor was around. Maybe he'd buy a pie. One of them then turned to me and asked, "now which one is he, the big one?," referring to the bodyguards. I looked around and noticed everyone's eyes on the Mayor and his staff and said, "no. He's the one with the glasses."

And at that moment, the Mayor became just another passer by lookin' for some goods--and not buying nothin'.

Now until the end of October you can get some goodies from MaMaw's on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Pearl Alley Market in Columbus, OH (if you can make it).

you know you're the daughter of Nursery owners when...

you "accidentally" kill 50% of the plants in your yard while spraying round-up to get rid of those pesky weeds you've been too lazy to pull all summer. i didn't need those damn plants anyways.

better get me some mulch!

but can she get write her own code?

as some of you know, my alma mater has decided to go co-ed. there's a good sized fight to keep this from happening. with hope, it will be overturned soon. there are actually hundreds of folks pullin' out the can of whoop ass right now, including students, parents, alums, faculty, lawyers and area residents. it's all very serious.

with that, though, i thought that i'd post a little smidge of talk from the alum listserv that happened recently between a few of us.

a little background: the school hired a firm to do a feasibility study on the college's future as single sex (which i call a paid study to tell them to go co-ed, known to others as prostitution). the firm's conclusions found that the women the college would eventually want to attract--to keep them financially afloat would be:

"A new variety of female students. These women are more social and outgoing, dress up for class and seem to care more about their appearance."

Someone from the listserv then posited, "Might these be the 'normal girls?'"

To which I replied, "Actually, they're robots."

Suddenly, I had it all figured out.

i hate fleas

i hate fleas,
they hate me.
i wish them death,
for being a flea.

one day, i will break all the chains
they put around me,
kick them out of my house,
put 'em where they should be.

in the flea grave!!!

Three steps forward, two steps back.

photo from Save Randolph-Macon Woman's College

The Board of Trustees at R-MWC voted this morning on a strategic plan that will admit men into the school starting next Fall. The school will also regear as a "global honors college"...and die faster than a Hollywood marriage.

i heart my neighborhood

I have a tragic love/hate relationship with my neighborhood. I've lived here in the home that I share with my husband for over three years. In this time I've created a tiny family, made new relationships, gone through personal losses, purged enough clothing for every Gap in America, learned how not to garden, created art and loved like I've never loved--all in my home. I am thankful for this place.

The neighborhood is nestled much like a kidney between the bustling and trashed northern end of the University District of The Ohio State University and the quaint southernmost end of "Clintonville"--a village of sorts that features craft-style homes, quiet streets and 30/40 something's who fear the leap into suburbia--so they hold on for dear life.

The fact that the area is in flux/semi-despair makes it somewhat sexy. There are lots of working class folk, rockers, artists, university folk, professionals, hipsters and elders who call this kidney space home. It's grungy exterior in itself makes irresistible note of the softness and beauty that must reside within the tiny to mid-sized dwellings. And a good number of first-time homebuyers rejoice with new properties they bought for 0% down--a major draw for those in debt and without a nest egg.

About 40% of the time though, I loathe this neighborhood. I typically voice the same laundry list of complaints:

air pollution from cars, planes, and trains
deteriorating homes (with ours slowly joining the lot)
dead smelling trash in the alley
speeding cars (our street is a major vein out of downtown and campus)
3 a.m. fireworks
drug dealers
loud porch parties
a weird and anti-social neighbor who I know is keeping something or someone in his basement
unfinished eyesore properties
the occasional roaming pit bull or t-shirted poodle

And this is just my block.

But at night, I am especially grateful for all the life around me. And it's all pretty unintentionally unique and genuine. I would appreciate the silence and clean air outside of the city, but I think it'd miss the gifts this area gives me every day. The trash in the alley eventually gets cleaned up. And the fireworks stop. And the dealers move and deal somewhere else. The air pollution I'll give away any day, but the sincerity of this neighborhood, no. Can't get that in the suburbs.

Thanks, Neighborhood!

Yes, they are

This week, Randolph-Macon Woman's College Board of Trustees will be voting on whether or not to go co-ed. The vote is really just a formality--something that has pissed hundreds if not thousands of alums off. The Board lied and told alums and students alike in '05 and '06 that going co-ed was the last thing on the list of options that they'd ever consider. This plan has schematically come in through the back door. They have even hired a fancy pr firm to help them handle the anger coming from all directions. Alums only had a few weeks to mobilize and educate other alums about this decision...and unfortunately, this hasn't been enough time to cause enough of a ruckus.

I think that I could be wrong though. Despite the lack of afforded time, a good deal of work has been done very quickly in reaction to the plan the Board's chosen to vote on. Alums have collected enough money to file a lawsuit against the school, there's a huge ass protest planned this weekend, there will be walkouts and hopefully Osama or Jerry Fallwell will show up and take the Board of Trustees hostage. Or maybe Oprah will show up and take over the school...with everyone getting a new car.

The Board of Trustees have no idea how screwed they are. And they never thought that the women they educated to be fierce leaders would rear their ugly heads in defense of their school...loudly. It's going to be nasty.

This photo is from a recent DC gathering of alumnae. Quite inspiring to say the least.

Kick some M' effin' ass, ladies. And play some good music while you're at it.