Blog For Choice 2012

Today I'm going to do a Blog for Choice because I am pro-choice and I believe that makes me pro-life.  I know that abortion is a controversial topic and people feel incredibly passionate about it, I am one of these people, but I know that we all have common ground.  Each side is going to have to compromise (ew, I know!) in some way.  Abortions will always happen and some people will always consider abortion to be murder.  And that's okay.  Where I think we can come together is keeping them safe and rare and legal.  Safe and legal go hand in hand.  I know and have known women who have had abortions.  I have never had one but I would not be ashamed to admit that I had.  I know that their lives would be different if they would have carried a pregnancy to full term and had a baby.  But I also know that all our lives would be heart-crushingly empty if they would have had to have an unsafe abortion and lost their lives because of it.

I am responsible about my birth control and at this point in my life I do not want to be a parent.  I honestly don't know if I ever will want to be.  I don't believe I am the downfall of society and I don't believe that if my birth control fails me I should have to carry a pregnancy to full term.  And, as of now, I have the law on my side.  That being said, I'd like to think that society can come to terms with this situation in a way that makes most people kind of happy.  All of us have to accept certain realities in dealing with abortion and all of us, no matter what we believe, have to live on this planet together.  So let's stop calling each other names, let's be compassionate to each other, and let's work together to keep women alive and safe and surrounded by honest and comforting resources.

I will step off my soap box now!  Have a good day and try to be more silly.

#TeamBieber

Rant Warning!

It’s like Kelly Clarkson all over again.  A super old Justin Bieber interview is making the rounds and atheists are having a friggin’ field day eviscerating him because he was confronted with the question of post-rape abortion.  He got uncomfortable, mumbled he didn’t know and followed up with something like “everything happens for a reason.” Not an uncommon thing to hear from a christian or a 17 year old.  I’m so glad that my 17 year old self didn’t have social media because I was a total tool.  Not that Bieber is but I certainly was and if you expect a 17 year old christian to say something lovely about abortion, I’m not sure you’re head’s on right.  Additionally, telling him he’s an asshole, an idiot, to fuck off, or that he’s just ignorant is not going to help change his mind.  It makes YOU look like an idiot, an asshole, and it makes me tell you to fuck off.  I just don’t get it.  What a way to make yourself feel superior, to pick on Justin Bieber and his “idiot 12 year old fans.” I mean, who should be ashamed here?  I’m not leaning towards Bieber.  And you can’t criticize the tactics without being labeled a “church of Bieber” member?  I mean, this whole thing speaks to such a larger problem within the skeptic/atheist community.  I mean, when you’re words have taken someone like me, who is ambivalent about Bieber in the first place and made me defend the kid WITH AN ENTIRE BLOG you fail.  You fail at communication, atheism, and being a nice person.  So yes, you win, you get to wear the crown of being “better” than Justin Bieber.  But at this point, I’d rather hang out with him than you.  

For my own sake, here's Phil Plait's DBAD speech...again.

Everyone be Nice to Kelly Clarkson

Today, I totally freaked out when I found out Kelly Clarkson supported Ron Paul.  The dude totally disgusts me and Kelly Clarkson totally inspires me so I thought it was just really depressing to find out she supported him.  I think I tweeted one thing at her that was like "please say it ain't so!!!" or some such thing but I still feel ashamed about it.  You know why?  Because my tweet wasn't the worse, by far, but still her response was this.  Yeah, nice.  And classy.  And inspiring.  So, along the lines of "don't be a dick," if you want Kelly Clarkson to change her mind, don't be a dick.  And, I don't care if she changes her mind, I just want people to be nice to her.  She is not mean, she just has an opinion and I feel bad that I was part of a mob mentality.  So hopefully, I'll learn from this and not be such a...well, dick.  Night.

I'm Mad Crushin' on Brunettes

New Girl-It's Jess!

The most beautiful woman, well, ever.

Not a fan of the lower right, but all the rest?  Love that Alexa!

Okay, she's blond, but still.  She's just a model from Lauren Conrad's Paper  Crown line.

New Blogger is Nuts.

Yeah, apparently it's been a while since I've blogged but the new blogger is nuts!  I think I like it but I'm not sure.  In the meantime I will tell you this, Purpose face wash is the best thing I've discovered in a long time.  That is all.  Nope, one more thing.  My legs have been falling asleep a lot lately.  Is that bad?  I hope not!

Japan

My husband and I went to Japan in March.  It was a late honeymoon, it was about 7 days after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Sendai region, and we visited Osaka and Kyoto.  The state department didn't tell us we couldn't go so we went, however, we did reroute and avoid Tokyo.  Not because we were afraid, but because they were conserving energy and it seemed sort of rude to show up ready for a party.  Anyways, here are some pictures, sort of an annoying blog post I know.  But I miss it there so much and you can't tell me to shut up because it's my blog.

This is in Osaka, our second week.  Literally, I had just tried something on in a store and got depressed.  This is me hiding my giant white arms from the small Japanese women.

We went on a HUGE ferris wheel (that's on top of a mall) and this is what we saw!

Apparently, giant ferris wheels terrify me.

They do not terrify Jason.

Tuna. 

Ham.

Salmon.

Fancy ham with mango inside.

Creme brulee.

Normally I think it's vulgar to post food pictures.  However, this whole post is how I spent a bunch of money, which I could have used to save lives, on a trip across the globe.  I think food vulgarity is the least of my worries.  Onward.

Cafe And on And on.  Japan had the best lattes/coffee I've ever had.

This, I did not eat.

But this, I did drink.  

Beer!

This is an artsy fartsy picture of ice in a Starbucks cup.

There are a lot, A LOT of swasticas in Japan..  They  are markers for Buddhist temples. 

Another huge wheel at the aquarium.

Japanese makeup!!!!

This place just LOOKS like a church.  It is not a church but it looks like a church so people can have weddings there and it will look like they had a wedding in  a church.  No joke.

Some street scenes.

And this guy was there!

A mall.

Soups are my favorite.

Okay, bye!

On Being Pleasant

Aside from my all-time favorite hobby of making fun of Yelpers, I am trying everyday to be a nice person. A while ago Phil Plait gave a talk that was basically supporting Wil Wheaton's mantra "Don't Be a Dick" and it was especially targeted towards skeptics.  Scientists and atheists (well, hell, everyone!) could benefit from this method of communication and since I hope to be a scientist and I am an atheist I took note.

When I was a Christian I was mocked and people made fun of me.  Most people experience this, not just religious people, and it didn't change my views one iota.  But when my boyfriend at the time (now my husband, weird!) would nicely question me about why I believed things and challenged the consistency of my views, well that's when things started to change.

Even up until about a year ago I believed that mean people had their place in changing viewpoints.  I even wrote a blog disagreeing with Phil Plait about it!  Some of the people I looked up to in the scientific world were/are snarky, rude, patronizing and most likely funny too.  That sort of treatment did work on me, I never wanted to be humiliated so I prepared myself with knowledge.  But I don't think that's the right way to learn or teach.  I finally realized that the people I truly admire, the people who inspired me to go back to school and to change my life and make it my own, were the nicest people.  Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman (who I hear was sexist but I didn't know that so it doesn't count), and Phil Plait are/were so nice.  And so patient and so passionate about learning have constantly improving.  Not demoralizing, insulting, and demeaning people.  And when I'm surrounded by those type of people, I get smarter, I grow more, I'm more open minded and I'm a better communicator.

The goal of talking and discussing for me is not to try and get converts (unless you want creationism taught in schools-then I'mma try and convert you!) it's to learn why people think what they do, how they form opinions.  Maybe I can learn from them and maybe they can learn from me.  But they won't if I'm rude, and I've learned that lesson many times!  I'm not perfect and I fail at being nice but I will try and hopefully get better.

So be nice.  Because the world can't do much with a hard heart.

Phil Plait's Talk Part 1
Phil Plait's Talk Part 2
Phil Plait's Talk Part 3

P.S. Along with being nice I'd like to smell like coconuts and wear gold jewelry.  And give hugs that aren't creepy.  Not that my hugs now are creepy...

Ape Cave

At the entrance, already so cold you can see your breath.  It was nearly 80 degrees outside the cave!

This weekend I went spelunking in the Ape Cave here in WA state (it's near Mt. St. Helens) and it was amazing.  I've never been spelunking and it feels weird to even say it literally.  There are two caves, a really easy one and a really difficult one.  My friends, husband and I explored both and then hiked the two miles out of it back to the main lot.  We didn't say any critters but we did see a lot of cave slime and beer bottles which seems like an entirely stupid thing to bring into a cave.  I crawled through a little tiny tunnel to explore a larger cave area and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done (as well as one of the most awkward-army crawling is hard!)  My next goal is to return to St. Helens and go on some hikes there!  It was a total blast.  Oh, and it's Ape Cave, not Ape Caves (like Boeing, not Boeings).

Crawling out of the tiny tunnel.

Cave rocks!

St. Helens

Shirley Maclaine

Dudes, I love Shirley Maclaine.  I have always loved her and I cannot help myself.  I'm reading her new book and it's basically about how she's old and grumpy and she lists the things she hates and likes.  That's fine and mostly enjoyable.  She's a super new-age kinda gal and I am really interested in her world view (she learns life lessons from her past lives!) and how she gets these views.  I disagree with nearly every word she says but she's so nice and curious about others that it's not offensive.  Until she talks about medicine and homeopathy and asthma.  I am all for differing opinions and live and let live...until it's dangerous to others.  It's fine that she believes that she has found a cure for asthma and that this simple breathing "cure" also helps prevent heart attacks.  But it's dangerous that she's presenting it as helpful to others.  I mean she just point-blank says, "this is the cure for asthma" and "it helps prevent heart attacks" and she has no evidence to support it.  She doesn't like "western" medicine (i.e. medicine) but she goes to hospitals for her emergencies, not to homeopaths.  She uses homeopathic remedies but discusses DNA and other scientifically discovered realities without acknowledging the disconnect or her hypocrisy.  Sigh.  I love the woman, but I think her words are dangerous in this case.  She tells a story about being mis-diagnosed at one hospital but then properly treated at the next, and yet all hospitals are untrustworthy.  Not logical.  Anyways, I love the gal but she's gettin' on my nerves with that whole bit.

Curiosity

I've decided I need to be more curious.  I'm the least curious person I know, which I think is a horrible trait to be missing if I'd like to be a scientist.  For example, my husband has been talking about TED Talks for months...months and months.  I thought it was a guy named Ted just talking about shit.  At the same time, a lot of my sciencey blogs have been mentioning TED related things and I never connected the dots.  I am not sure if it means I'm dense or dumb, but I know that it makes me a lazy thinker.  I just don't ever ask questions.  Are there traits in your life that you think you are lacking?  If so, how do you overcome them?  And also, are any of you on Google+ yet?  I am and I love it!  It's like everything in my life is finally united; pictures, social networks, blogs, news.  I love it.