Category: Well why not?

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Love to Zaria

Yet another tear-jerkingly sad baby story, but I just can’t ignore it and not pass it on. I found Zaria’s tale through Jenny at What the blog?, then clicked over to read about her myself.

I can’t even imagine her parents’ pain. To have one of their twin daughters stillborn at 21 weeks, cling to the hope of the other’s survival for a month, then face the indescribable pain of losing her as well, all too soon.

I really have no more words – I can’t seem to think of anything quite fitting for the loss of such tiny little souls. So please go read about Zaria. Suzanne is hosting a most excellent fundraiser for the family, and all you moms-to-be out there could have a chance to win some pretty sweet gear. Or if you are so inclined, give a little something to the March of Dimes, an organization dedicated to helping families like Zaria’s through their struggles and giving those tiny ones a fighting chance.

Love to Zaria!

 

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Calling all foodies…

One of my friends from grade school (talk about the magic of facebook!) has a pretty kick-ass blog that I recently discovered and began following. They review and discuss restaurants in various cities in which they have lived around the world – Brooklyn, London, Hong Kong, and soon Seoul. Not only do they review, but they give you a taste of the local flare, something which I love since Brooklyn is the only one of those places to which I’ve ever been. Jen also posts some of her recipes, which look pretty wickedly awesome. Too bad we all know the extent of my culinary prowess ends with PB&Js or else I might actually give some of them a shot. Maybe I’ll get R to test them out…

So check it:  TomEatsJenCooks

Or find their link over there —–> and click away. Bon appetit!

 

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Guilty pleasures

I have a confession to make, which you may or may not find surprising, depending on how well you know me. I am totally in love with junk reality tv. Channels like Bravo and E! tend to suck me in, especially when they run marathons. If I find a string of episodes of a show I’ve been missing, oo wee, look out! There goes Saturday. (ha! yeah right, i mean there went saturday. i haven’t been able to sit down and watch a tv marathon in ages)

The top contenders in my tv land would probably have to be My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant (terrible, i know, but i just can’t help myself!), and pretty much a nation-wide blanketing of the Real Housewives. The RH of Orange County are my favorites and Beverly Hills surprised me last season by coming in a close second, but the rest of them I actually can’t stand. New York have just gotten beyond ridiculous (except Bethenny – i love her! oh – all of her shows make the list too, whatever it will be called for the next season. and her skinny girl margaritas aren’t half bad either. anyone tried the sangria yet?), New Jersey are annoying as hell, D.C. were horrendous, Atlanta are now even too ghetto for me, and was there a Miami, too? I never watched that one. I could tell from the start that I would hate them.

Wait what? You haven’t seen My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding?? Holy shit. Well what are you still sitting here for? Go find it! It is seriously crazy. These gypsies (called irish travelers, living mainly in england) all get married super young and have the most extravagantly tacky, lavish weddings I’ve ever seen. It’s awesome! I watch most episodes with my mouth hanging open in incredulity at what these people find “pretty”. And how do they afford this stuff? I’ve even gotten R to watch this one with me because some of them are so mind-boggling. It appears that most of the women on the show are cleaning women of some sort, the guys work in scrap metal, almost no one makes it past grade school, yet they have ginormous weddings and the girls’ dresses cost like $50,000-$100,000. I’m not kidding! And the crowds at these weddings? Unreal. The kids are all grinding on each other in the hopes of finding a mate, yet they’re super strict when it comes to girls “doing anything” before they’re married. I can’t even explain it all – you just have to go watch. I think this one’s actually on TLC.

What’s with the Teen Mom, you ask? Well, that one I’ve actually watched those girls since they were the first season of 16 and Pregnant, so that means I’m automatically hooked. The newer seasons of 16 and Pregnant, though, I haven’t followed at all. And this one isn’t very high up on my list. If it’s on and it happens to be a rare night when R’s already gone to bed and I have free reign of the tv I’ll watch it, but I don’t clear my schedule for it or even put it on the dvr list.

R always chastises me for watching these shows. “This shit is what’s wrong with society,” he will say. “People thinking these shows are real.” Um, hello, I in no way, shape, or form think these shows are anywhere near reality. In fact, I’m always so happy watching them that they are not my reality. That’s part of their appeal – that some people are so far out there that they have shows like these for me to watch. Pure mindless entertainment, plain and simple. I’m definitely not taking notes on how to get my lips that big or hair that bleached or lifestyle so ludicrous, don’t worry. I just like to veg out for half an hour or 47 minutes and watch my trash-fest. So stop hating, Mr. Man Caves, Deadliest Catch, and Man v. Food Nation, among countless others that totally fill our dvr so my little shows have no room to be recorded anyway. (and i always sit through all of his shows with not a peep or complaint. why can’t he just shut up on the very few occasions that he happens to catch 5 minutes of one of mine so i can actually hear it?)

So fess up. How about you? Got any guilty pleasure trash tv shows that you love to watch? Chances are I’ve seen all of them at some point along the way, too, even if I didn’t deem them worthy of repeat viewings.

 

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Good deed?

Yesterday morning on my way to work I gave a homeless man some money. It was the first time I’d actually done so, even though I’ve seen numerous homeless people with signs asking for help over the years. And many of them I’ve seen on the same corner on which this man was standing with his small hand-written sign that read “HOMELESS PLEASE HELP GOD BLESS”.

Was I scammed? Was he really not homeless and just trying to get some extra money? Was he some sort of addict and turned right around to use my money to buy drugs or alcohol instead of a meal or other necessity? I don’t know. But what I do know is that every time I see a homeless person holding a sign asking for help and I drive right by, pretending I don’t see him to avoid actually catching his eye, I feel ashamed. For what if he really is homeless? What if he really does need help and will use whatever money he gets to find a meal or save enough for a shirt or a shower? What if he really has exhausted every other avenue and has finally been reduced to the humiliation of standing on a street corner with a small, unassuming sign, putting himself at the mercy of total strangers to spare some change or even a dollar? If those “what ifs” are true, then who am I to speed right past him, not even acknowledging that another human needs help, and deem him unworthy of my assistance?

So today I finally gave. Do I want a gold star for my generosity? No, I’m just telling an anecdote. I had seen this particular man once before, and I just felt like helping. I wanted to give him $5, but all I had was a $10 this morning, so I guess today was his lucky day.

And it may have really been his lucky day if he was, in fact, just out there scamming people and already had a boat-load of money and didn’t actually need to be standing there. He might have yelled “Sucker!” as I rolled up my window and drove away. But all I heard was his quiet, “Thank you,” and this time I wasn’t ashamed.

 

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Last of his tribe

Things like this amaze and fascinate me. The fact that there are still uncontacted tribes in the jungles and forests of the world. That there are still indigenous peoples living among us, on a planet that we generally think of as fully civilized. How awesome is that?

The “Last of his Tribe”

I can’t even imagine this man’s life. A single, solitary soul in his native jungle land, the lone survivor of his entire people. Fending off cattle ranchers that would gladly hunt him down, trying to grow food for subsistence while having to harvest it undercover so as not to be poached like the rest of his tribe. Having no one with whom to communicate, as the people documenting and trying to preserve his existence have no idea whatsoever of the language he speaks. And not even knowing that some of those strangers following him through the land are really trying to protect him, not kill him.

Could I survive as he does? Probably not. How does he do it? How does he find the strength to keep on in the face of the constant reminder that everyone he has ever known and loved is gone and he will never again find anyone like him? I don’t know that I could. Or does he even know that? Does he know that there is no one else like him out there? Or are there really more and we are the clueless ones? Maybe he’s a lot more cunning than we assume.

I would love to catch even a tiny first-hand glimpse into worlds like these. Worlds so entirely different from the one I’ve always known. Worlds so unique and astonishing that we will never be able to fully appreciate them from the comfort of our 4-walled, heated and air conditioned, fully wireless living rooms. Worlds that might make us really appreciate all that we do have and admire and respect those that have none of it yet are equally happy and well-off if not more so than we are. Worlds that force us to realize we aren’t the only ones living here, so stop trashing the place.

There’s much to learn from the Last Man. I hope we can.

 

p.s. another one of our friends had her baby boy early this morning! congratulations T, with baby S!!!

 

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I want to go

On a trip around the world like this.

 

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

 

How awesome is that? One of my best friends and her husband took like 6 weeks and did an around-the-world trip a few years ago before they had kids, and I was insanely jealous. That is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’d still love to someday, but who knows when we’ll actually be able to now. I’m hopeful, though. I love to travel and see new places.

All 3 parts of that clip are really good – Move, Eat, and Learn. Damn, makes me look totally boring.
 

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Market woes

Anyone taken a look at the stock market lately? Well if you haven’t, don’t. And my only piece of advice as someone who works in the financial world day in and day out – don’t watch your 401k every day. If you do, you might start acting like this:

 

 

Too funny. Sadly, though, it’s true. Ugh, here we go again.