Plan B may be available without a prescription
This is great news. I think an age restriction on nonprescription sales of the morning after pill are appropriate, and the idea of putting them behind the pharmacy counter is just common sense. I couldn't understand the "controversy" last year when people were saying behind-the-counter sales wouldn't work. Tobacco sales are age-restricted; pornography sales are age-restricted; here in the Midwest, they card you at the pharmacy counter for cold medicine. Why would Plan B sales be any more difficult? At least they've started the talks back up, and something good may come of this yet.
Gardasil approved to prevent cervical cancer
Gardasil added to vaccination schedule
These stories are more than a month old, I know, but I just can't stop being excited about it. Merck's HPV vaccine is going to change the incidence and prevalence of cervical cancer over the next 50 years. And yes, I admit that I'm slightly biased, having worked on the HPV vaccine project at Merck for a year, but that doesn't change the facts: it's a great vaccine. Every woman under the age of 26 should go get it. Guys should go ahead and get it now, too; not only will it help curb the spread of HPV to women (indirect benefit), it prevents against the two most prevalent strains of genital warts, which is a direct benefit to you.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Why can't people understand?
That not everyone has to be the SAME?
I was reading someone's blog this morning (the author and blog shall remain anonymous for various reasons) and found this (the author recently went on a trip to China and is now posting her journal entries online):
[Our tour guide] "said only 3-4% of the Chinese people have a belief system and that most are aetheist like her. A sad statistic. They follow systems of conduct like confuscianism. I can see why so many organizations are trying to send missionaries here... though these people do not seem hopeless... maybe some realize it. [I saw one church during my whole stay in China, and it was in Shanghai. I find is so utterly odd that they have so many supersitions and they believe in evil spirits and luck and things like that, but they do not believe in a god. Who made up all of their superstitions? Do they not understand how stupid it is? At least, I found it to be stupid. It IS neat and the superstitions are so old... but they are just that... I dont believe that wearing a red shirt will give me luck or that spending money on new years will mean bad fortune and lots of spending for the rest of the year. Its just silly.]"
Why are people so ignorant? It makes me really mad. When you hear that most Chinese people do not have an organized belief system, they are referring to the big monotheistic religions: very few (comparatively) are Christian or Muslim or Jewish. MANY are Buddhist or Taoist or simply are Chinese, which consists of a nice mix of a lot of stuff, including Confucianism. They believe in the existence of multiple gods -- many were Buddhist in origin but have been updated and adapted to Chinese culture -- such as Guanyin. She only saw one church, in Shanghai -- HOW MANY TEMPLES DID SHE SEE? Is it possible that a temple is the Chinese version of a church? Why is a church the only legitimate house of worship?
Some have pointed to the Chinese practice of "ancestor worship" as a weird practice. Personally, I hate that term; when used in that way, "worship" sounds so derogatory, like in the term "devil worship." Seriously -- what positive two-word phrases can you think of that use the word "worship"? No one refers to "Jesus worship" as a practice. Anyway, it's not ancestor worship -- it's paying your respects and honoring those who gave you life. You remember your ancestors and hope they are watching over you from the afterlife. It stems from the traditional large, unified Chinese family system. Sure, you give your dead ancestors food and wine to keep them happy, but this is just symbolic. Is it any more crazy from an onlooker's standpoint than EATING "the body and blood of Christ"? I think not. If you were dead and were going to be remembered, would you rather be given food as an offering or be eaten in effigy? Which sounds more respectful, really?
And as for superstitions, these may be slightly more pervasive in Chinese culture than American superstitions are in America, but I don't think they're stupid or crazy -- at least, no more so than American ones. If you stop calling them "superstitions," then maybe you won't think of them as stupid. Call them "traditions" instead, and you might see them in a positive light. Yes, the Chinese think red is lucky. Is that any stranger than American brides wearing white on their wedding day? They think the number four is unlucky (because it is the same sound as the word for "death") so they often don't have a fourth floor of buildings -- here, the number 13 is unlucky (can anyone tell me WHY? At least the Chinese have a reason!) and some buildings don't have a 13th floor. There, the number 8 is lucky (because it rhymes with "making money"), and here, it's the number 7 (again, can anyone tell me why?). IT'S THE SAME THING! Why are Westerners afraid of black cats or walking under ladders? The black cats I can't explain, but walking under ladders just makes sense in terms of your safety -- and likewise, many of the Chinese superstitions just make sense. Why should you return home at New Year's? The same reason people return home for Thanksgiving -- it's a family holiday, and it's important to keep your family ties strong even if you don't live nearby anymore. Why do we eat turkey at Thanksgiving? No clue. Is it so strange that the Chinese DO have reasons for eating certain foods (for example, a whole fish represents good fortune -- because traditionally, you'd have to be pretty fortunate to be able to afford a whole fish, rather than just leftover bits, right?)? If you ask me, Chinese customs are much less "stupid" than American ones, since they have logical explanations.
They do their yearly big house cleaning right before New Years; we do ours in the spring. There are so many parallels between the two cultures, yet in America we call them "traditions" or "customs," but we refer to the Chinese ones as "superstitions." Give me a break and get off your high horse.
And do not even get me started on the missionary comment. If you think that people have to believe in YOUR god to be right in this world, I really want nothing to do with you. How do you think a civilization survived thousands of years without YOUR god if it wasn't doing SOMETHING right? Did you ever think that if our society tried to create positive change by focusing on building strong families, we might get somewhere? Why does positive change have to come from sitting in a church praying to a single god? Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?
I'm so mad, I can't even think about this anymore. This isn't really directed at the blog author. It's more directed at everyone who thinks this way. People live in their small little worlds and have no clue about the huge world surrounding them. People don't have to be Christian to be good people. They just need to be good people to be good people. I'd rather follow a good "system of conduct" than an organized religion. I wonder what percentage of Americans have an organized belief system? It's probably a majority, but does that mean this is a country full of wonderful people. Far from it, let me tell you.
I was reading someone's blog this morning (the author and blog shall remain anonymous for various reasons) and found this (the author recently went on a trip to China and is now posting her journal entries online):
[Our tour guide] "said only 3-4% of the Chinese people have a belief system and that most are aetheist like her. A sad statistic. They follow systems of conduct like confuscianism. I can see why so many organizations are trying to send missionaries here... though these people do not seem hopeless... maybe some realize it. [I saw one church during my whole stay in China, and it was in Shanghai. I find is so utterly odd that they have so many supersitions and they believe in evil spirits and luck and things like that, but they do not believe in a god. Who made up all of their superstitions? Do they not understand how stupid it is? At least, I found it to be stupid. It IS neat and the superstitions are so old... but they are just that... I dont believe that wearing a red shirt will give me luck or that spending money on new years will mean bad fortune and lots of spending for the rest of the year. Its just silly.]"
Why are people so ignorant? It makes me really mad. When you hear that most Chinese people do not have an organized belief system, they are referring to the big monotheistic religions: very few (comparatively) are Christian or Muslim or Jewish. MANY are Buddhist or Taoist or simply are Chinese, which consists of a nice mix of a lot of stuff, including Confucianism. They believe in the existence of multiple gods -- many were Buddhist in origin but have been updated and adapted to Chinese culture -- such as Guanyin. She only saw one church, in Shanghai -- HOW MANY TEMPLES DID SHE SEE? Is it possible that a temple is the Chinese version of a church? Why is a church the only legitimate house of worship?
Some have pointed to the Chinese practice of "ancestor worship" as a weird practice. Personally, I hate that term; when used in that way, "worship" sounds so derogatory, like in the term "devil worship." Seriously -- what positive two-word phrases can you think of that use the word "worship"? No one refers to "Jesus worship" as a practice. Anyway, it's not ancestor worship -- it's paying your respects and honoring those who gave you life. You remember your ancestors and hope they are watching over you from the afterlife. It stems from the traditional large, unified Chinese family system. Sure, you give your dead ancestors food and wine to keep them happy, but this is just symbolic. Is it any more crazy from an onlooker's standpoint than EATING "the body and blood of Christ"? I think not. If you were dead and were going to be remembered, would you rather be given food as an offering or be eaten in effigy? Which sounds more respectful, really?
And as for superstitions, these may be slightly more pervasive in Chinese culture than American superstitions are in America, but I don't think they're stupid or crazy -- at least, no more so than American ones. If you stop calling them "superstitions," then maybe you won't think of them as stupid. Call them "traditions" instead, and you might see them in a positive light. Yes, the Chinese think red is lucky. Is that any stranger than American brides wearing white on their wedding day? They think the number four is unlucky (because it is the same sound as the word for "death") so they often don't have a fourth floor of buildings -- here, the number 13 is unlucky (can anyone tell me WHY? At least the Chinese have a reason!) and some buildings don't have a 13th floor. There, the number 8 is lucky (because it rhymes with "making money"), and here, it's the number 7 (again, can anyone tell me why?). IT'S THE SAME THING! Why are Westerners afraid of black cats or walking under ladders? The black cats I can't explain, but walking under ladders just makes sense in terms of your safety -- and likewise, many of the Chinese superstitions just make sense. Why should you return home at New Year's? The same reason people return home for Thanksgiving -- it's a family holiday, and it's important to keep your family ties strong even if you don't live nearby anymore. Why do we eat turkey at Thanksgiving? No clue. Is it so strange that the Chinese DO have reasons for eating certain foods (for example, a whole fish represents good fortune -- because traditionally, you'd have to be pretty fortunate to be able to afford a whole fish, rather than just leftover bits, right?)? If you ask me, Chinese customs are much less "stupid" than American ones, since they have logical explanations.
They do their yearly big house cleaning right before New Years; we do ours in the spring. There are so many parallels between the two cultures, yet in America we call them "traditions" or "customs," but we refer to the Chinese ones as "superstitions." Give me a break and get off your high horse.
And do not even get me started on the missionary comment. If you think that people have to believe in YOUR god to be right in this world, I really want nothing to do with you. How do you think a civilization survived thousands of years without YOUR god if it wasn't doing SOMETHING right? Did you ever think that if our society tried to create positive change by focusing on building strong families, we might get somewhere? Why does positive change have to come from sitting in a church praying to a single god? Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?
I'm so mad, I can't even think about this anymore. This isn't really directed at the blog author. It's more directed at everyone who thinks this way. People live in their small little worlds and have no clue about the huge world surrounding them. People don't have to be Christian to be good people. They just need to be good people to be good people. I'd rather follow a good "system of conduct" than an organized religion. I wonder what percentage of Americans have an organized belief system? It's probably a majority, but does that mean this is a country full of wonderful people. Far from it, let me tell you.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
We went back to Huber's this past weekend to pick more berries. This time, it was raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. We got a little more than a pound of each, which means I am in berry HEAVEN. My favorite thing is to just eat them plain. I've also sprinkled them on my cereal. I'm not planning on cooking with them, other than blueberry muffins, because I think cooked fresh berries is just a waste -- that's what I have frozen ones for, to mutilate and stew down into mush for desserts. I have minor plans to make a fruit tart, but that doesn't really count as cooking, since the fresh fruit is just piled on top.
Of note is that the high school girl checking us out at the farm market was making googly eyes at Eric, causing her to charge me twice for the blueberries and costing me an extra $3.66, but I didn't realize it until we got home. Damn bitch. Eric also got hit on last week by email after seeing a woman at the city council meeting who found him enchanting. Come on, ladies -- I KNOW he's hot, but that doesn't mean you have to actually pursue him! If this doesn't stop, I'm going to be getting into a lot of catfights.
I had a meeting this morning with my research advisor. I haven't done anything in months (I can't remember if I've mentioned it here before, but it's OK because I'm waiting for someone else to do HIS work before I can do mine), and I needed to be able to report having done at least SOMETHING, so yesterday I met with the slacker guy I'm waiting on to get his update and this morning I woke up early to review a few articles I hadn't read yet. Yay for deadlines. Without them, my life would be a complete shambles.
Three days until the anniversary of my move out here. Three weeks until school starts again. Three years until I graduate. Three decades until I pay off all of my student loans. Wow, that was unintentionally quickly depressing. I'd better go enjoy my afternoon -- free ones are running low!
Of note is that the high school girl checking us out at the farm market was making googly eyes at Eric, causing her to charge me twice for the blueberries and costing me an extra $3.66, but I didn't realize it until we got home. Damn bitch. Eric also got hit on last week by email after seeing a woman at the city council meeting who found him enchanting. Come on, ladies -- I KNOW he's hot, but that doesn't mean you have to actually pursue him! If this doesn't stop, I'm going to be getting into a lot of catfights.
I had a meeting this morning with my research advisor. I haven't done anything in months (I can't remember if I've mentioned it here before, but it's OK because I'm waiting for someone else to do HIS work before I can do mine), and I needed to be able to report having done at least SOMETHING, so yesterday I met with the slacker guy I'm waiting on to get his update and this morning I woke up early to review a few articles I hadn't read yet. Yay for deadlines. Without them, my life would be a complete shambles.
Three days until the anniversary of my move out here. Three weeks until school starts again. Three years until I graduate. Three decades until I pay off all of my student loans. Wow, that was unintentionally quickly depressing. I'd better go enjoy my afternoon -- free ones are running low!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
In response to popular demand...
...I am posting the two other pictures I have of a shirtless Joel.
July '06; Joel is on the far left, playing bocce in Ocean City, NJ (I'm pretty sure he lost).
July '04; Bradley Beach, NJ. To get this photo uploaded, I actually took a picture of the paper photo I have (the original was taken with my old 35mm camera), because I don't have a scanner. It's a little blurry, but I don't intend to put too much energy into this post. That beach trip is memorable for the fact that the clasp on my bandeau bikini top snapped as I leaned over to pick up a ball, exposing my chest to the entire beach. I was traumatized.
~~~~~
In other news, I added up the totals, and I put more than 2,000 miles on my car this trip. (Louisville to OCNJ to Leonardtown to Norristown, PA, for a baby shower and back, then back to Louisville.) That's more than I've driven since last July, when we drove from Philly to Savannah for a vacation, then took a "side trip" to Louisville to find an apartment. After that, I made the 600-mile drive to Louisville at the end of July when I moved, and haven't driven more than a couple hundred miles since then. In fact, for the first time in my life, I've been getting oil changes based on time elapsing, rather than mileage accumulating. That's the way it goes when you live downtown! Also, that means I'm coming up on the anniversary of my move out here. Time really DOES fly by quickly!
July '06; Joel is on the far left, playing bocce in Ocean City, NJ (I'm pretty sure he lost).
July '04; Bradley Beach, NJ. To get this photo uploaded, I actually took a picture of the paper photo I have (the original was taken with my old 35mm camera), because I don't have a scanner. It's a little blurry, but I don't intend to put too much energy into this post. That beach trip is memorable for the fact that the clasp on my bandeau bikini top snapped as I leaned over to pick up a ball, exposing my chest to the entire beach. I was traumatized.
~~~~~
In other news, I added up the totals, and I put more than 2,000 miles on my car this trip. (Louisville to OCNJ to Leonardtown to Norristown, PA, for a baby shower and back, then back to Louisville.) That's more than I've driven since last July, when we drove from Philly to Savannah for a vacation, then took a "side trip" to Louisville to find an apartment. After that, I made the 600-mile drive to Louisville at the end of July when I moved, and haven't driven more than a couple hundred miles since then. In fact, for the first time in my life, I've been getting oil changes based on time elapsing, rather than mileage accumulating. That's the way it goes when you live downtown! Also, that means I'm coming up on the anniversary of my move out here. Time really DOES fly by quickly!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Time flies quickly!
I always get upset when people don't update their blogs as quickly as I think they should. Then I realize that I haven't updated mine in a while, either. Oops.
July has flown by very quickly so far – there are only three weeks left until school starts, but only two weeks left until orientation, which I need to attend to help keep everything running smoothly. I got home late Monday night – Tuesday morning, really – after having left on the 6th. Eric and I drove out to the East coast for a long weekend at the Shore (that’s
-We discovered that our kittens like car rides. They just don’t like their cat carriers. So we let them loose and they stay mostly in the back seat, asleep, making brief forays into the litter box or up front to have a drink of water, or to sleep on someone’s lap. It’s a breeze traveling with them, actually!
-Playing horseshoes on the beach is very fun, but I’m not very good at it. I can be counted on to make a decent number of one-pointers, and a few two-pointers here and there, but I didn’t get a ringer a single time that weekend. Boo.
-Digging a hole at the beach is VERY fun, especially when a bizarre emotion comes over not only you, but the entire group, causing everyone to just keep digging. The hole ended up being over four feet deep and probably about four feet wide. We hit water. To widen the hole, we occasionally collapsed a section of wall into the hole then had to dig all that sand back out, leading two of us to independently make analogies to FDR’s New Deal – I believe one of us referenced “make work” and the other referenced the CCC. OK, it was Eric and me. We’re huge dorks.
In the beginning, when the hole was small.
Finished product! We didn't hit China, but we did hit water.
-After spending a few days in OCNJ, Eric flew back home and I continued on to St. Mary’s County,
-The kittens don’t like dogs, but by the end of the week, there was an uneasy peace in the house among the animals. Hassle, our rescue cat, didn’t like the kittens at all, so there was no mingling there. Duchess, our beagle, is scared of cats because of Hassle and our old cat, Marble (even though neither of them had claws; I guess their constant hissing and batting scarred Duchess enough for life), so she stayed away from the kittens as much as she could. Dozer, my brother’s dinosaur of a “puppy” (actually the largest dog I’ve ever seen, especially since he’s fat), was fascinated by the kittens and just wanted to play. Unfortunately, a 100-pound puppy cannot safely play with two seven-pound kittens, so the kittens kept hissing and swiping at him. He learned to keep just enough distance between them, but wouldn’t stop following them around the house like – that’s right – a lovesick puppy. Actually, Mojo was pretty interested in Dozer, also, but wouldn’t get too close – just stayed near him at all times. Moxie dazzled everyone with her affection and cuteness.
-I got no work done at home, even though I really didn’t expect to.
-My 11-hour drive back to KY was lengthened to 11.5 hours by some traffic on the Beltway (of course!) and a 15-minute nap in a medical office parking lot off of Georgia Ave when I got drowsy (I had just eaten lunch). I wasn’t worried, though, because I was still making great time, until I reached
-I don’t get any cell service in eastern
-I got a haircut while I was at home, and my hair is now shorter than it has been in five years. My mom cut it, and it’s a great cut, but we’re both not quite sure if it’s the best cut for my face, so I’m trying it out for a few days before I get a second opinion and possibly a trim. It’s really short and cute, kind of fluffy and feathery, and I really like it a lot. My shower time has been cut in half (my hair was over a foot long from root to tip before), and even though I now am forced to blow dry my hair into submission afterwards, it’s still nice. So far, the reaction has been positive.
-We played softball again yesterday, and I sustained more injuries than I ever thought possible. I was back at third base, and I misjudged a ball thrown in from left center, catching it mostly with my right hand rather than my glove – OUCH! An inning later, I went to catch a grounder headed straight for me and COMPLETELY misjudged it, so it slammed into my right shin at about 100 miles an hour. Everyone came rushing over, and it hurt like hell for the first minute, but then it miraculously felt fine afterward. Today it’s tight and sore, but not swollen – I guess the ball luckily hit just to the right of my tibia, but not so far right that there was a lot of soft tissue damage and swelling. Because of all my “misjudging,” I had a pretty terrible game fielding, but I blame it on the fact that we couldn’t get there until game time, so we didn’t get to warm up. Next week, I’m going to warm up a lot and get my hand-eye coordination back in check!
Monday, July 03, 2006
June is over and July is here
Currently reading:
1421: The Year China Discovered America, by Gavin Mendes
Rating: Good book, great and VERY interesting topic, well-written, but still non-fiction, which makes it a little dry for summer reading
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, by Brady Udall
Rating: Good so far, but I just started it. First sentence: "If I could tell you only one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head."
Movies I've seen this summer:
Da Vinci Code: I went in wanting to like it, but I just couldn't. I already discussed this last month.
Cars: Awesome. Loved it. Pixar does it again.
Superman Returns: Great movie. I thought it was cute how they updated Superman's costume -- his briefs were a little more boy-shorty and a little less bikini-cut. I liked Brandon Routh as Superman, and I was pleasantly surprised by Kate Bosworth. It was definitely a 2006 plot, though -- finding out that Lois Lane has had Superman's illegititmate son!
Netflix I've seen this summer:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Chicken Little
Mad Hot Ballroom -- sooooo adorable!!!
Miss Congeniality 2
Next up is The Producers, but I accidentally ordered the 1968 version with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Oh well; can't judge the most recent one if I haven't seen this one first, I suppose.
On TV right now:
Take Her, She's Mine, a 1963 movie with Jimmy Stewart and Sandra Dee. Never heard of it before, but it's really good. Stewart plays a dad whose oldest daughter (Dee) has gone to Paris to study, but he is so worried about her virtue that he follows her there; antics ensue. (Sounds slightly familiar!) I highly recommend it, even though I don't know how it ends yet.
Tonight: Fireworks at the waterfront. Happy Fourth!
1421: The Year China Discovered America, by Gavin Mendes
Rating: Good book, great and VERY interesting topic, well-written, but still non-fiction, which makes it a little dry for summer reading
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, by Brady Udall
Rating: Good so far, but I just started it. First sentence: "If I could tell you only one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head."
Movies I've seen this summer:
Da Vinci Code: I went in wanting to like it, but I just couldn't. I already discussed this last month.
Cars: Awesome. Loved it. Pixar does it again.
Superman Returns: Great movie. I thought it was cute how they updated Superman's costume -- his briefs were a little more boy-shorty and a little less bikini-cut. I liked Brandon Routh as Superman, and I was pleasantly surprised by Kate Bosworth. It was definitely a 2006 plot, though -- finding out that Lois Lane has had Superman's illegititmate son!
Netflix I've seen this summer:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Chicken Little
Mad Hot Ballroom -- sooooo adorable!!!
Miss Congeniality 2
Next up is The Producers, but I accidentally ordered the 1968 version with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Oh well; can't judge the most recent one if I haven't seen this one first, I suppose.
On TV right now:
Take Her, She's Mine, a 1963 movie with Jimmy Stewart and Sandra Dee. Never heard of it before, but it's really good. Stewart plays a dad whose oldest daughter (Dee) has gone to Paris to study, but he is so worried about her virtue that he follows her there; antics ensue. (Sounds slightly familiar!) I highly recommend it, even though I don't know how it ends yet.
Tonight: Fireworks at the waterfront. Happy Fourth!
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