photographer link

I'm going to add this person's link to my blog. But check out their work from here in the meantime.

my new obsession

http://www.goodreads.com/
Thanks are due to a commenter on Whitney's blog.

this is cool

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU

1995 - the melody

one of my all-time favorite photos i've ever taken

new brunswick - 1992

philadelphia - 1992

Special comment by Keith Olbermann - BUSH, SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

Keith Olbermann outdid himself with his special comment Wednesday night, 14 May 2008. In it he excoriates Bush for his so-called self-less sacrifice of giving up golf because of the Iraq war. Please watch, you won't regret it.

opening the door of hope by a tiny crack

This is an encouraging bit of news.

this photo doesn't need a title

i thought of heather ryan and her photo taking when i shot this.
she inspires me.

california friends

i like this photo

This is an atrocity - I don't even know what to do about it.

There's a story that came out yesterday on Bloomberg that says:
"The number of suicides among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may exceed the combat death toll because of inadequate mental health care, the U.S. government's top psychiatric researcher said."

Suicides will exceed combat deaths?

Something needs to be done about this and I don't even know where to begin since the MSM don't seem to want to make this a major issue by plastering it all over their newscasts and front pages.

I don't even know what to say. Where do you start?

For the few people that happen to read my blog, please do pass this information around. And if you happen to be a vet that reads this and you're experiencing depression or PTSD, there is help for you out there in form of your fellow soldiers and Marines. PLEASE contact VETS 4 VETS and get the help you so deservedly need.

can you tell the difference between bush, mccain and a carrot?

take the quiz and find out...

(un)happy anniversary

Today marks the fifth anniversary since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished"

This is the letter I wrote to him today....

Dear Mr. Bush,
Happy Anniversary!! It's been five years since you declared major combat operations over in Iraq. Since then more than 4000 American military members have died, more journalists than all other wars combined and countless Iraqis. You must be so proud.


Do you think I'll get a response?

r.i.p. strawberry iced cupcakes

Today I went to lunch with my friend Liz and on the way back to my office we decided to get a treat. So we walk by The Little Pie Company and much to our dismay it was boarded up. I peaked through a tear in the paper covering the windows and saw that everything was torn out, which confirms that it's gone. How sad.

more love

Saturday afternoon I got a text message from Christina that said "Check your back steps when you get home" and what I found there were three big bunches of tulips. I put them in our bedroom and this is what I get to look at when I wake in the morning and before I fall asleep at night.

I love my friends. I am truly grateful for them and appreciate that they think of me on my birthday.
Much love and gratitude.

i love my friends!!!!

I have some of the greatest friends on the planet! This is what Stephanie (and Sadie) made me for my birthday and sent to me in a lovely box all the way from California!!

It includes: Personalized sugar cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Brownies. Plus Stephanie was thoughtful enough to include beautifully printed recipes for everything she made. AND!! It's all vegan (except the choc. chips, since all she had was milk chocolate).

This is one of the greatest gifts ever and I love it!!
Thank you Stephanie and Sadie (and Peter too!) xoxo

one more

I know I've said this before, but I roll with a hot bunch of lady friends.

a little something of my own for a change

Obviously I haven't posted anything of my own in a while... So here's a photo I like. It's Youth Brigade at the Lanes, late last year.

Occupation on an installment plan

Booing the first pitch

Bush was booed while throwing out the first pitch at the new Washington Nationals Stadium in Washington, DC. I love it.

swimming in the deep blue sea

in earnest

"We will not fear any longer."

Keith Olbermann gives an impassioned and poignant special comment on his show Thursday, 14 February 2008. Please watch it.

day after super-duper Tuesday

I was incredibly bummed when John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race. I remember reading it on the interweb when I got to work and saying out loud, "OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

It had taken me quite a while to decide who I was going to support and I really felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I was left again as undecided.

However as the days crept on, I started to do more research about my remaining options and finally decided that I could back Obama and not feel THAT bad about it.

I saw the will.i.am video on YouTube and was really impressed with it. In fact, it made me recall hearing that particular Obama speech the night he gave it after the New Hampshire primary. I remember laying in bed in the dark, listening very carefully to the radio and thinking how it was incredible, powerful and inspiring.

In case you hadn't seen/heard it, I'm sharing it with you here...



As of late yesterday I was still considering voting for Edwards in the primary. I wanted to vote with my conscience for the candidate I thought really most deserved it. However, after a terse/tense discussion with a friend I realized... I live in a "highly contested" state and my vote actually did matter. My conscience wouldn't have let me forgive myself if my one vote could have made the difference between Obama and HRC "winning". So I did end up voting with my conscience and voted for Obama. And even though he didn't "win" my state, I hope my vote made the difference in the amount of delegates he got out of the primary.

As an aside... I'm glad the "race" isn't over. If our presidential candidate can be decided this early on it almost seems pointless to have the rest of the primaries or the convention be as late in the year as it is. I'm pleased everyone else out there still has a say in what happens and I hope they're as excited as I am about how important that truly is.

suicide and the military

Back in November, around Veteran's Day, I posted a bit about the skyrocketing suicide rate of our military (See it here.) Today, I see there are two new stories in the news pertaining to this very subject. One on the homepage of the Washington Post dot com and the other an AP story at Talking Points Memo.

This is an important topic that should have a far wider audience than it does and I'm ashamed of our media for not making it so. I understand this is an election year or that Britney Spears needed a police escort and two police helicopters to take her to the hospital (your tax dollars HARD at work, California!!) and that makes for important or entertaining news, but that our Soldiers and Marines killing themselves is a BIG deal and EVERYONE should be talking about this.

This war hasn't touched as many people as WWII or Korea or Viet Nam and maybe that's why not as many people know or care about what's happening. We can't keep pretending this problem doesn't exist.

Please do what you can - try contacting your congress person or senator, letting them know you want them to help make sure our veterans get the care and support they so badly need, write a letter to the editor of your local paper... Please just do SOMETHING.

Thank you.

UPDATE: Sadly, No! and Digby also have posts related to this story.