My Kind of Snowman

Vacation is booked. For someone who swore up and down that she'd NEVER be caught dead on a cruise...at least until she was retired (because, you know, by then you're almost dead), I've somehow come to embrace my inner, geriatric, self and have made a tradition of heading to the Caribbean to cruise around the islands for a week in February.

I blame Minnesota. If it wasn't so blasted cold around here for a majority of the year, I'm certain my vacations would have continued to lean towards the backpacking around Europe kind of adventure. Not that I don't have plans to return to Europe, I've had the itch to get back to London for awhile now, but the warm, clear waters, the white sandy beaches, the snorkeling and sunbathing is like a Siren's call to me this time of year.

So, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba...here I come!

photo by gslayher on flickr

Published

NPR Latino USA
Originally uploaded by naden

Bare with me while I toot my own horn for a second. So, last week I got an e-mail from an editor for NPR's Latino USA station. They were preparing to do a series of stories on immigration reform and wanted to use this photo of mine from the protests in Postville, Iowa last summer.

Here's the text that summarized the broadcast:

"After federal immigration reform legislation failed in 2006, many local governments began passing their own laws. New Haven, Connecticut was the first in the country to offer municipal IDs to all its residents regardless of immigration status. But reports of police harassment and racial profiling show that not every one agrees with the premise of a sanctuary city. Reporter Aswini Anburajan profiles a catholic priest arrested while looking into immigrant harassment reports. Also, a new study suggests that home raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violate some basic legal tenants." latinousa.kut.org

Okay, putting the horn down now. Thanks for indulging me.

Smitten Kitchen

I ran across this site the other day and I'm afraid I may have found my new favorite blog. Entertainment Weekly said that the photos on this site were "pure food porn". Now that's right up my alley. I've been drooling over the photos and recipes on this site for a week or so, and someday soon I'm actually going to buy some groceries and make something.

First up just might have to be these pickled grapes with cinnamon and black pepper, or maybe these cottage cheese pancakes.....hmm, but this pasta with cauliflower, walnuts and feta looks super yummy.....oooh, there are just too many fun recipes to choose from. I think I'm smitten.

Republicans for Voldemort

Republicans for Voldemort
Originally uploaded by naden

With all the "Death Panel" talk this week stirred up by Palin and Chuck Grassley (to name just a couple), I thought posting this photo was appropriate. It's completely frackin amazing to me that the Dems have capitulated on End of Life Counseling even though most Republicans (including Grassley) were FOR this type of counseling that was included in the 2003 Medicare bill. That's right, the Republicans were FOR these so-called "Death Panels" before the were against them.

Score one for Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I'm not proud to be a Democrat today.

Have I ever mentioned how much of a nerd I am?

I've always been slightly nerdy, "bookish" as my mom might say. I used to try to hide it, but as I've gotten older I've found myself embracing my nerdishness. These days I'll happily admit that I know exactly what BSG stands for (Battlestar Galactica for you non-nerdy types) and that its not usual for me to spend an entire Saturday playing a board game (that's ONE game, not games...and by entire Saturday, I mean from at least 10am to 10pm). On more than one occasion I've watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory and thought...yeah, that's my life.

Anyway - this is all to saw that I'm pretty much a nerd and quite possibly getting nerdier as I get older. So you'll forgive me if I jumped with joy when Netflix sent the first disc of the last season of BSG. And you'll look the frack away as I crawl into bed with the dog on a beautiful summer day to watch my show. There will be other beautiful summer days to enjoy, but I can't go one more day without knowing whether or not Starbuck is a Cylon.

100 Best Beach Reads

Roatan, Honduras - Gumbalimba Park
Originally uploaded by naden

I love NPR. I adore reading. I can't live without lists. So, NPR's list of the 100 Best Beach Books is right up my alley, especially this time of year when I'd rather be on a beach than behind a desk. Oh wait, that really doesn't have much to do with the time of year.

Happy reading!

Regina Benjamin

You've probably never heard of Regina Benjamin. Neither had I before Monday when she stood in the Rose Garden next to President Obama and accepted the nomination as Surgeon General. I love this pick. From all accounts she's an incredible doctor, a giving and caring person and actually has some experience with public health issues (as opposed to TV doctor Sanjay Gupta who had been rumored to be Obama's pick earlier this year).

Since Monday, the blogosphere has focused little on her accomplishments, choosing instead to debate the woman's weight...speculating about her BMI and writing her off as unfit (pun intended) for the position. I've struggled with how to articulate my disgust with this line of thought, until I ran across this piece by Frances Kissling at Salon. She's done a nice job of articulating things for me. This Jezebel piece also raises a good point about the inherent sexism behind this discussion.