get your flu shot!

"Mieux est l'ennemi du bien"

{Perfect is the enemy of good}

-Voltaire

I try to practice a "live and let live" mentality when interacting with people. I find it doesn't bode well to push my advice on others; if they don't want to hear what I have to say, they aren't listening and will come away feeling like I'm a bully, not a help. However, when I consider not telling people about why the flu shot is a good thing, I'm forced to reconsider my stance. "Live and let die" is perhaps a more apt description of what I'm doing.

why we don't take our kids to eat fast food

One of my all-time favorites from Hyperbole and a Half. Okay, they're all favorites.

Yesterday Genevieve caught a glimpse of the golden arches when we were out shopping--a rare sighting in our area, a.k.a. the land of no fast food joints (this Mickey D's is in a shopping center as part of a much-larger building, rather than a stand-alone operation. I'm explaining this 411 so you understand why she doesn't usually notice it. Thank goodness).

Alice asks: could you live without a refrigerator?

Think you can make me smile? Think again.

My cousin Alice has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. As an adorable rosy-cheeked little girl, she requested that we call her  "John" and wore shorts and no shirt to the beach. After all, if her older brother could do it, why couldn't she? I've always admired her courage to be her own person. After college, she moved to Portugal to spend a summer working on a farm. That was two years ago! Since then, she has become fluent in Portuguese as well as farming. Alice possesses the unique talent of being able to make us think about what we take for granted in our lives as being necessary and part of decorum (see frowny-face photo), which is why I jumped at the chance to share her story of living for the past year without a refrigerator in Portugal.

Before I let her get started with her tale, I should mention I'm rather attached to my refrigerator. While I follow several bloggers in their attempts to go "off grid," I have no plans to do so myself in the future. However, like Alice is about to explain, I have had the benefit of seeing differences in other cultures' views of what MUST BE refrigerated. For example, my first time shopping in a British grocery store, I spent thirty minutes wandering around in search of the eggs. I stubbornly persisted, assuming I must be blind to some other method of storing eggs in the fridge besides cardboard crates. Only after an embarrassing moment in which I asked a befuddled store clerk did I finally discover the location of the eggs, midway down an aisle with NO REFRIGERATION. Then there was the British refrigerator in our home, which was the size of a trash compactor and was stored under the counter. I also remember that on my study abroad in Kenya, the yogurt in our sack lunches came European-style with more active cultures and was stored in unrefrigerated bags.

blessed are the cheesemakers

A blogger friend wrote a comment a few days ago reminding me of a scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian--love that movie! Watching it again got me thinking about religion and humor. The movie was apparently controversial on its release; it was made the year I was born so I wouldn't know, but so I've heard. Getting up in arms about religious satire is a strange phenomenon. From my perspective, it seems only natural to poke fun at your own faith, just as you would any other area of life, or other faiths for that matter (remember a certain Danish cartoon, anyone?).

It's been necessary for me to hone this point-of-view lately, since Vivi has started making jokes about everything in her life, including her spirituality. The jokes aren't very good; most of them only she gets, but she laughs hysterically every time. I find myself unsure about whether to let her make the ones about God and Jesus (see: Cheez-its), but as I said, it seems to me a little levity couldn't hurt. Here's another recent example of a Vivi joke:

living frugally in an official capacity

I talk often--maybe too much?--about how I try to live as frugally and sustainably as possible. Frugal living is important to me both because of our OITK household ("One Income Two Kids," my own adaptation of DINK, but something tells me it might not catch on) and because, well, I was raised that way. I can think of so many examples from my childhood from which to pull. Let's see, there's...

• The oft-repeated story of my grandmother standing up at my dad's wedding rehearsal dinner to announce "I LOVE a bargain!," apropos to nothing [might be a good post for another day] 
• The other oft-repeated [spoiler: gross!] story of my great grandmother sopping up the remnants of a ketchup bottle with her bread and coffee at the breakfast table 
• Or, how about the fact that my dad polishes furniture with his old whitey-tighties!

who wants some nerdy pie?

As an homage to data geeks, Graph Jam and Fake Pew Research, here's a run-down of the stuff I typically write about.

Warning: all data is completed fabricated. Duh.

give me intelligent discourse, or give me nothing

Friends, I am disappointed with the current political climate. What I want is to hear impassioned, thoughtful arguments with valid points. Instead, what I hear is nonsense in both aisles aimed at confusing and polarizing us. This picture of me at my 4th birthday sums up the feeling I have toward politics in general.

A few days ago I received an email from a stranger who wanted my political support. I won't go into the specifics, but in general, it said in way too many paragraphs: "I am a good person, and I've worked hard to get where I am. Support this cause!" But the writer didn't tell me the name of the organization, nor did the message adequately tell me how I could support the cause.

So here's what I'm thinking today. Maybe, just maybe, if enough of us agree both to provide and demand intelligent discourse, it might actually happen. Am I being naive? Thoughts?

You may have noticed a new button on the right side of the blog today. I forgot to mention yesterday that I've decided to participate in the NaBloPoMo, or "National Blog Post Month," and the challenge is to blog every day of November. It's sponsored by BlogHer as a way to improve writing skills. I thought I'd give it a shot. Why not, right? We shall see. I figure my 32nd birthday and the upcoming Thanksgiving should provide plenty of blog fodder.

Nate leaned over to glance at my draft post, saw the word "political" and said "Don't talk about politics on your blog." Thanks hon, and I agree with you. While I am pleased the blog has become my sanctuary away from partisan ballyhoo, I do have a few issues I'd like to raise with my reader(s) during this month of daily blogging. I'll do my best to steer clear of allowing the assiduous wonk that was me in my twenties take over the writing. I hope I am up to the task of starting an earnest dialogue that allows us to dance in the proverbial political aisle. Let the glorious madness of a virtual hoodang begin!

standing on the side of love

"Jesus is all about inclusion, forgiveness, and empowerment. In the light of his compassionate presence, people are set free to live their lives in strength and hope, regardless of whether they be considered outcasts by those in the 'religious know.'" -Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault 

I rarely speak about my spiritual side, perhaps because I find spirituality deeply personal and intimate and would prefer to have the discussion face to face. Occasionally I am moved to share my spiritual feelings in a more public way, and I have been so moved recently. While I'm a little late to join the party (not in my approval but in my post here), I wholeheartedly support the recent decision by New York lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage. And although the vote was resoundingly partisan, I do not consider my opinion to be that of a Democrat but of a Christian. I have sometimes found it difficult to discuss the matter with other Christians, for when they point out the Bible clearly says homosexuality is wrong, I have little retort except to think that as Christians we should not be passing such harsh judgment on others, particularly on those who simply want to declare their love in a lasting way. I just don't personally believe it's what Jesus would do. Last week I read a newsletter published by Gwyneth Paltrow's website GOOP that provided some guidance from Christian ecclesiastics, which I found to be eloquent at putting my emotions into words.

The title of my post is the name of an interfaith public advocacy campaign sponsored by Unitarian Universalism Association, which has been my church of choice for nine years. They welcomed me with open arms despite my frequent doubts and questions, and that unconditional love and support has allowed my compassion to flourish. As I have said before, I am still at times searching for compassion, but it helps to have a support system. Everyone has to find their own way, whether that is through some spiritual faith or not. I'm certainly not asking anyone to "convert" to my way of thinking. But if I've even opened the door a tiny crack toward acceptance and compassion, I will have reached my goal in opening myself up to you in this deeply personal way.