Not Looking Good

this whole “moving”/ blog transformation bit is taking longer than i’d expected. 

in the meantime, public service announcement!!! 

the feds are threatening to drastically cut funding adolescent health programs.  this affects ALL of us in some way.  if not by completing ruining your life or the future of a child you know, you WILL feel it in your pockets!  why don’t people understand that prevention is always cheaper than after-the-fact?

take a moment (literally) to call or email your representative and help express the urgency of maintaining funding for adolescent health.

visit this link (or the one below) to find your representative then follow instructions  http://sparkaction.org/alert/save-adolescent-family-life-program  script may be altered for your specific state as this is a federal level budget cut and does not just affect georgia residents!!

• Click here to find your Representative: here.   
• Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and then ask for the office of your representative.  Once connected, ask to speak with the health staffer or be connected to their voice mail.    
• When they answer or their VM picks up,  say:

“Hello my name is ___________ and I am calling as a constituent from ____________  and my zip code is __________.    I am calling to ask Representative _______  to support funding for health and prevention programs.  As a constituent, I ask that you strongly encourage Representative to vote AGAINST any budget bill that cuts funding for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, Title X, the CDC, or Planned Parenthood. 

The proposed cuts would have a devastating impact on efforts to prevent unintended pregnancy, HIV, and other STDs and would undermine women, young people, and low-income people’s access to health care.

 These cuts are not about “fiscal responsibility” or “reducing government spending.” They are about eliminating vital prevention and health care programs and eliminating access to comprehensive sex education, family planning, sexual and reproductive health services, and HIV/STD prevention for those most in need.

 In fact, this funding contributes to Georgia’s financial health- with lower teenage pregnancies and STIs, teen can graduate on time, attend higher education, and become part of the competitive work force in our state, therefore contributing positively to Georgia’s economy.

 Again, please urge the representative to VOTE NO to cutting important Office of Adolescent Health/Teen Pregnancy Prevention funding. 

 Thank you for your time.”

 After that, unless they have any questions, say goodbye and hang up- you did your part! 

thanks, sweet peachy citizens!  i suppose if this signals the end of my career, i can always up the side hustles…  make makeup and waitressing full time gigs?  woe is me…

‘Sup?

Image by TheCulinaryGeek via Flickr

 

dudes!… i totally made a decision of sorts and plum forgot to share!

i realized i have way too many random thoughts and way too random a life to let this blog go completely.  after all, it does serve in most ways as my personal journal (only it’s available to the entire world as opposed to locked in a nitestand drawer).  and lord knows i’d forget my head if it weren’t attached.  so if i don’t write it down, it never happened.  and then what stories will i tell my grandkids?

that to say, i’ll start doing the fashion/beauty thing i previously threatened over at one of my un-used blogger addresses.  i’ll be sure to share the link provided this actually ever takes place (pretty unlikely at this point).

here… i’ll commit to one post a week.  it’s not much, i’m aware.  but this whole living in real life thing is time consuming.  not much has changed from my up by 6am, work all week, to bed by 9pm, soccer mom, bball mom, cram in all the rest on the weekend schedule.  but i’m newly devoted to guilt-free general simplification upon realizing (again) that life is too short and precious to spend any time whatsoever doing anything that takes more effort than i’m willing to give.

does that mean you guys aren’t worth the effort?  of course not.  i feel appropriately shitty everytime i read one of your super fantastic posts and realize it’s been ages since i contributed to the blogosphere.  it’s just that i’m big (or at least medium-sized) on promises, stated intentions, keeping my word and such.  and i know that once weekly is realistic at this point.

personal update?…

well, work is still an incredible balance between being fantastically rewarding, allowing me to spend hours doing absolutely nothing and giving me a currently comfortable degree of “security.” 

my mini-person is still the joy of my life.  it’s bball season and soon, we’ll be back on the soccer field.  we’ve started talking pretty regularly about sex.  i asked him yesterday if he’d at least wait until after he finishes high school to become sexually active.  he said, “ok.”  his facial expression said, “omg… i’ll tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to stop randomly talking to me about sex!” 

and in the wild and crazy confusing world that is dating, i have settled into a pleasant and relatively calm getting-to-know-you phase with a pretty great gal.

i’m working on improving my health and fitness lifestyle.  what this looks like is me more often choosing pretzels over salt&vinegar potato chips and working out with a frequency that is not really worth mentioning.  a much slower start than last year.  at this point in 2010, i was on a strict 5-day a week cardio routine.  i’m fairly certain my diet was still crap.  hmmm… as i write i realize my focus needs to be combining the two.  seems when i’m working out regularly, i use the promise of an upcoming food-fiasco as motivation.  and when i’m eating healthier, i tend to feel like i have no real need to workout as much.  overall, if i’m feeling generally good about myself and my physical appearance (as i have lately) the whole health and fitness thing doesn’t stand a fair chance.  so yeah… still working on that.

final random thought?… is not so random.  i scrolled down ye olde sidebar to browse my auto-generated suggested media and there are a disturbing number of women with open mouths, bare breasts and vintage posters.  i must now read over this entire post to determine exactly what i wrote to prompt such suggestions… 

… i’m back.  i have no idea.  but i decided to include the photo of the hotdog and chips along with a few articles on things completely unrelated to this post or my life.  enjoy!

Related Articles

• P!nk, The Soccer Mom? (perezhilton.com)
• Recall News: Potato chips (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Small Blogs: The Art of the Personal Journal (blogher.com)

Ummm… Yeah…

 

Image via Wikipedia

 

so i suppose this is one of my mish mosh posts.  and why not?  i’ve been gone long enough.  so it’s only fitting that i have random things to share.  oh, because you were definitely wondering, the above picture was taken during nyc pride.  by the way, it’s gay pride weekend (again) in atlanta.  we (fortunately/ unfortunately?) have “black” gay pride AND gay pride here, as do several cities.  the separation has been endlessly debated.  the plus side: more exposure, seminars, learning, PARTIES!!  the down side: the separatism.  i mean, what’s next?  lesbian pride and gay (men’s) pride?

first up, my “new” (new to me) apartment.  well, you all know that the previous place was in the HOOD.  the federal pen was in my backyard.  two neighbors were murdered during gay pride weekend.  LOUD kids ran around outside until the wee hours of the morning, school nights or not.  the weed man lived five doors down (not necessarily a bad thing but i don’t know them like that…).  the candy lady lived beside him.  the pizza places wouldn’t deliver to us.  i left the huge box from my elliptical in the middle of the floor for a month because i was afraid someone would mistake it for a recent flat-screen purchase and rob me.  i could go on.  but, you get my point.  well, the new place is in one of my favie neighborhoods.  i’m within walking distance to one of my favie restaurants.  my next door neighbor is a state police officer.  the complex is tiny and the neighbors i’ve met so far have been friendly and elderly.  the downfalls?  really, really old new york-style apartment (read: tiny).  i love the hardwoods.  i hate the process of extinguishing the smell of cigarette smoke left behind by previous tenant.  also, i’ve never seen a kitchen so small in my entire life.  but hey, if i’ve got a coffee pot and a bottle of wine, i’m good.  besides, my goal was to downsize, save money, get the credit together, and start working on the home-buying process this time next year.  i still feel weird buying a house as a single lady (yes, i’m old fashioned) but we shall see…

next up, fiber bars and pms.  don’t mix the two.  that is all.

dating more than one person… how is this properly done?  wait… before we even go there, let’s simply address dating in general.  i’ve always seen it as an interview/ elimination process.  i would like to be in a long-term, committed relationship.  i’ve become patient and selective so there’s no rush.  but, i am not a fan of wasted time either.  i’ve heard people say that i should NOT view each date as a potential relationship and i should just “chill”, hangout, and what not.  thing is, people just aren’t that interesting to me.  there is no one outside of my bestie whose company i enjoy enough to endure without alterior motive.  outside of not being physically attracted to her (she’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong)… she is funny.  she has beyond great conversation.  and i care.  can’t say the same for people i date.  i haven’t come across anyone i enjoy even 95% of the time…  and no, it’s not me.  it’s them.  side note: ignore the men in the picture.  none for me, thanks.

so… we all know that i have a wonderful job in teen pregnancy prevention that i absolutely love.  did we know that it’s “let’s talk month”?  that means we talk to our kids (parents, teachers, friends of folks with kids, counselors, etc.) about sex.  whatever this means for you (contraceptives, abstaining, same-gender safe sex, getting tested, the basics of birds & bees…), talk to the kids!  they are waiting to hear it from you!  personally, i just got re-re-tested for everything under the sun.  i’m still good on all accounts!  this just means i’m gonna be super selective about breaking this celibacy.

and finally, bishop eddie long.  well, what i will say on this is that he is my former pastor.  i stopped going to the church when he helped organize the march against gay marriage.  and now look…  although, i hate that he’s being connected to homosexuality because his alleged victims are male.  he should more appropriately be attached to pedophilia.  i detest when people connect the two in cases of child victimization.  on an up note, i laugh everytime i think about a friend saying that his porn name will be “bishop long.”  hilarious!

http://abcnews.go.com/US/bishop-eddie-long-alleged-victim-speaks/story?id=11753416